Judge Excludes Much Of Evidence Against BTRN's Michael Metter In Spongetech Case

Evidence Excluded

The federal government's case against BLUE STAR MEDIA GROUP and BUSINESS TALKRADIO NETWORK principal MICHAEL METTER in the short-selling case involving his SPONGETECH DELIVERY SYSTEMS company has hit a major bump with a judge's ruling that much of the evidence against METTER and SPONGETECH must be excluded because the government took too long to examine it, reports CRAIN'S NEW YORK BUSINESS' AARON ELSTEIN.

METTER and SPONGETECH CFO/COO STEPHEN Y. MOSKOWITZ are facing charges of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and obstruction of justice after an SEC investigation into falsified financial reports and a "pump and dump" plan and allegations that almost all of SPONGETECH's sales were nonexistent.

Judge DORA IRIZARRY said that the government's 15-month delay in reviewing e-mails and other electronic evidence seized from METTER's home and offices "constitutes an unreasonable seizure under the Fourth Amendment."

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