Cogan earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois in 1975 and his J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1979, where he was a member of the Board of Editors of the Cornell Law Review.
From 1979 to 1980, Cogan clerked for Judge Sidney M. Aronovitz in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
Upon completion of his clerkship, Cogan became an associate at Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP, where he spent his entire career prior to his appointment as a judge, becoming a partner in 1988 and General Counsel of the Firm in 2004.
According to the official website of the Court for which he works, he had a commercial litigation practice that focused on complex litigation, accountant liability and securities fraud, insolvency and cross-border litigation.
Judge Cogan has given many lectures and presentations before organizations such as ALI-ABA and the New York City Bar Association. He has also written numerous articles on legal topics, and is co-author of books.
Prior to coming to the Brooklyn Court, Judge Cogan served as vice chair of the Mayor’s Committee on the Appointment of Municipal Marshals and was a member of the Departmental Disciplinary Committee of the Appellate Division, First Department.
García Luna Case
Genaro García Luna, who for several years led the fight against violent drug trafficking in Mexico, was sentenced on Wednesday to more than 38 years in a United States prison for accepting bribes from powerful drug cartels he was supposed to combat.
Federal Judge Brian Cogan announced the 460-month sentence at a hearing in federal court in Brooklyn.
Prosecutors had asked for a life sentence for García Luna, 56, after being found guilty in February 2023 for participating in a criminal drug scheme, taking part in several conspiracies and making false statements.
(Photo: Jane Rosenberg/REUTERS)
In a court presentation on September 19, prosecutors stated that the former Mexican official accepted millions of dollars in bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel, then led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán, to prevent members of that organization from being arrested and to favor their shipments of cocaine.
In announcing the sentence, Cogan said García Luna should have “some light at the end of the tunnel,” giving him credit for his work teaching fellow inmates at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center. However, the judge said the former official lived a “double life,” in which the damage he caused outweighed his good actions.
“Aside from your very pleasant demeanor and your eloquence, you have the same kind of evil as ‘El Chapo,’ it just manifests itself differently,” Cogan added.
García Luna served as Secretary of Security of Mexico between 2006 and 2012 under the presidency of Felipe Calderón, who after the sentence was announced stated in his X account that he never had “verifiable evidence” that García Luna was involved in “activities.” illicit”.
