DJ Envy’s former business partner, Cesar Pina, is attempting to strike a plea deal with federal prosecutors. Court docs obtained by AllHipHop reveal Pina’s attorneys are asking the judge for a continuance, stating, “Counsel for the parties represented that this additional continuance is necessary for effective preparation and to permit the parties to attempt to resolve this case prior to indictment and thereby avoid a trial.” In other words, they want to negotiate a deal without going to court so the matter can be settled as soon as possible.
“Plea negotiations are currently in progress, and both the United States and the defendant desire additional time to negotiate a plea agreement, which would render grand jury proceedings and a trial in this matter unnecessary,” the docs continue. “Thus, the ends of justice served by granting the continuance and preventing any further non-excludable days from passing under § 3161(h) outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.
“IT IS, therefore ORDERED that this action is continued from the date the Order is signed through February 29, 2024; and it is further ORDERED that those days are excluded in computing time under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974; and it is further ORDERED that nothing in this Order or the application prompting it is a finding or representation that less than 31 non-excludable days under § 3161(h) have expired.”
Federal authorities arrested Pina and charged him with allegedly defrauding dozens of real estate investors late last year. Pina defended Envy in October 2023 not long after his arrest, saying The Breakfast Club co-host had nothing to do with the alleged real estate scam and is only being targeted because he’s the more famous of the two.
“DJ Envy was never in the room with me,” Pina told his Instagram followers. “DJ Envy has nothing to do with any of these 20 lawsuits of these people who are suing me. It f###### sucks, bro.”
Pina also said people are “being coerced to sue people affiliated with me just because they are a bigger name. That’s the situation that breaks my heart. In all these lawsuits, these 20 lawsuits, DJ Envy was never in the room with me.”
He did, however, deny DJ Envy was a victim, saying, “I understand his attorney, his defense to DJ Envy is a victim. That’s the dumbest s### I ever heard in my life. Me and him were partners in the real estate seminars. We are partners in a couple of real estate transactions. That’s it. He’s not a victim. He was my partner. He was an investor.”
