New Jersey deli fraud defendant James Patten seeks no prison time

Courtroom sketch of James Patten, left, and attorney Ira Sorkin at N.J. District Court in Camden, N.J., Oct. 11, 2022 Source: Elizabeth Williams

The final defendant awaiting sentencing in the brazen $100 million New Jersey deli stock manipulation case is asking a judge to give him no prison time — despite having a prior felony conviction that resulted in incarceration.

Defense Argument

A lawyer for the defendant, James Patten, in a new filing in New Jersey federal court cited the short jail sentence received by his co-defendant and former employer, Peter Coker Sr.

"Mr. Patten was Peter Coker, Sr.'s employee in the offense conduct," the lawyer, Adam Brody, wrote. "Accordingly, if a sentence of six months' incarceration and six months' home detention constitutes just punishment for Peter Coker, Sr., then surely Mr. Patten is entitled to a lesser sentence."

A third defendant, Coker's son, Peter Coker Jr., received a 40-month prison sentence for his role in the scheme, and has since been released, as has the father.

Brody also cited Patten's remorse for his crime of securities fraud, and his history of seizures — including two episodes in February and May — as additional reasons for a non-prison sentence.

The filing revealed that Patten, a Winston-Salem, North Carolina resident, has been working as a warehouse materials handler for Coca-Cola and as a part-time handyman at a taproom and brewery since pleading guilty in December 2023.

Prosecution's Position

Prosecutors in late June asked Judge Christine O'Hearn to sentence Patten to between 12 and 18 months when she sentences him on July 21.

That request is sharply lower than the term of between 70 and 87 months suggested by federal sentencing guidelines for Patten.

Prosecutors in their filing stated that giving Patten a sentence more severe than that of the Cokers would be unfair, but also argued he deserved time in prison.

"He was released in 2012, approximately two years before the beginning of this conspiracy," prosecutors wrote. "A prison sentence is necessary because his return to fraud so soon after spending approximately two years in prison is troubling."

Court Filings

CNBC requested that the sentencing submissions by both sides be made public by the court. Judge O'Hearn complied, but several pages of both the prosecution's and defense's submissions have been redacted for unstated reasons.

The Scheme

Patten, Coker Sr., and Coker Jr. admitted to scheming to artificially boost the share prices of two thinly traded companies to make them attractive candidates for reverse mergers.

• One of the companies, Hometown International, owned just one small, money-losing deli in Paulsboro, New Jersey — Your Hometown Deli.
• The other company, E-Waste, was a shell company with no significant business operations.

Patten grew up in Paulsboro, where he was a standout high school wrestler. The deli was run by Patten's friend and teammate, Paul Morina, a high school principal and renowned wrestling coach, who was unaware of the stock manipulation scheme.

As a result of the scheme, the market capitalization of both companies at one point exceeded $100 million.

Prior Conviction

Patten was convicted in an unrelated mail fraud case in 2010 and sentenced to 27 months in prison.