By Pete Brush

Law360, New York (August 11, 2020, 5:29 PM EDT) -- Former Iconix Brand Group Inc. CEO Neil Cole was given a tentative 2021 trial date Tuesday after telling a Manhattan federal judge that his reputation has been ruined by accounting fraud charges and he has now been "unemployable" for five years.

Cole, the brother of fashion designer Kenneth Cole, took the unusual step of speaking out during a telephone status conference before U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos, who is handling the Manhattan U.S. attorney's case charging the ex-exec with criminal counts including fraud and obstruction.

"I have been accused of something," Cole said. "My life has been put into turmoil."

Cole said he is aware that the coronavirus pandemic has thrown trial schedules into disarray, but expressed frustration nevertheless, saying he has been "unbankable" and "unemployable" with a "destroyed reputation" since 2015, when he left brand management company Iconix while under suspicion.

"I just want my date in court. That's all I'm asking for," Cole said.

Judge Ramos agreed to schedule a Feb. 8 trial, but he cautioned it is not a given that any trials will go forward in the Southern District of New York in the coming weeks and months.

Cole and former Chief Operating Officer Seth Horowitz are accused of illegally agreeing with an Iconix partner, Global Brands Group Holding Ltd., to engage in transactions that resulted in Iconix inflating its revenue by $11 million in 2014. A U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission suit says the alleged overpayments were for intellectual property assets.

Horowitz pled guilty and is cooperating with prosecutors. Cole has forcefully denied wrongdoing, saying his dealings were properly vetted by legal, finance and accounting professionals.

Cole's legal team had hoped for a fall trial, but it emerged at Tuesday's hearing that two Southern District prosecutors tasked with Cole's case already are preparing for a jury trial tentatively set to begin Oct. 5.

Edward Imperatore and Scott Hartman of the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office are preparing for trial before U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in a white collar case involving biotech MiMedx Group Inc.

Meanwhile, no final decision on any trial has been made by the powers that be in the Southern District, where a committee that includes Chief Judge Colleen McMahon is working to prioritize trials based on various factors including how long cases have been pending.

The district hopes to hold trials by using a handful of specially outfitted courtrooms designed to protect judges, witnesses, jurors and lawyers from exposure to COVID-19.

On Tuesday, having heard of the tentative February trial date for Cole, Hartman asked for guidance as soon as possible on whether the trial will in fact go forward.

"We remain eager to bring the case to trial," Hartman said, although he expressed concern about corralling as many as 15 witnesses — at least two of whom are not from New York — to appear.

"I'll get working on that just as soon as possible," Judge Ramos said, quipping that managing prosecutors' schedules is not very high on the list of the district's priorities.

After the hearing, counsel for Cole declined comment. A representative for the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office declined comment.

Cole is represented by Lorin Reisner, Richard Tarlowe and Andrew Reich of Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP.

The government is represented by Edward Imperatore, Scott Hartman and Jared Lenow of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York.

The case is U.S. v. Cole, case number 1:19-cr-00869, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

--Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.

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