UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA GEZIM SELGJEKAJ, Plaintiff, v. Case No. 20-cv-2145 (CRC) EXECUTIVE OFFICE FOR UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS, et al., Defendants. MEMORANDUM OPINION Plaintiff Gezim Selgjekaj, proceeding pro se, has sued the Executive Office for United States Attorneys (“EOUSA”) under the Freedom of Information Act (“FOIA”) for access to certain records related to his 2013 indictment in the Northern District of Ohio. EOUSA has produced some of the requested records but withheld others, citing FOIA exemptions that protect personal privacy and the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. Both sides now seek summary judgment. The Court will grant partial summary judgment to EOUSA. The record establishes that most of the agency’s assertions of FOIA exemptions are justified. However, genuine disputes of material fact remain as to the adequacy of EOUSA’s searches and its rationale for categorically refusing to produce any orders that reflect the commencement, termination, or extension of any grand jury that heard evidence in Mr. Selgjekaj’s case. I. Background In 2013, Selgjekaj was indicted in the Northern District of Ohio for fraud and other alleged crimes in connection with the collapse of the St. Paul Croatian Federal Credit Union. United States v. Selgjekaj, No. 1:13CR09, 2015 WL 5172958, at *1 (N.D. Ohio Sept. 3, 2015). A federal jury convicted him in 2015. Id. He is currently serving a lengthy prison sentence stemming from that conviction. Selgjekaj submitted a FOIA request to EOUSA in August 2018, seeking “[a]ll Grand Jury indictment brought against myself, GEZIM SELGJEKAJ, as a defendant along with ALL attached information sheets, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Eastern Division.” First Wilkinson Decl. Exh. B, ECF No. 7-4 at 5. After searching for records responsive to the 2018 FOIA request, EOUSA released 44 pages in full, released three partially redacted pages, and withheld three pages in full. First Wilkinson Decl. Exh. F, ECF No. 7-4 at 19. To justify its withholdings, EOUSA cited FOIA Exemption 5, which shields certain privileged materials, 5 U.S.C. § 552(b)(5); Exemption 6, which protects individuals against undue invasions of personal privacy, id. § 552(b)(6); and Exemption 7(C), which applies to some law enforcement records that implicate privacy concerns, id. § 552(b)(7)(C). In May 2019, Selgjekaj sent EOUSA another FOIA request pertaining to his criminal case. The 2019 FOIA request sought: 1) All orders that reflect the Commencement, Termination, and any extensions of the Grand Jurys that heard evidence in this matter; 2) Transcripts of the instructions and charges given to any Grand Jury that heard evidence in this matter; 3) All Grand Jury voting records from all Grand Jurys that heard evidence in this matter[;] 4) All Grand Jury attendance records including names, times, and dates, of all Grand Jurors that heard evidence in this matter[, and] [5)] a copy of the applicable rules and regulations of your agency, as provided for by the Freedom of Information/Privacy Acts, as amended by public law 93-502, 88 stat. 1561. First Wilkinson Decl. Exh. …
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