Carlos Maturin v. T-Mobile USA, Inc.

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO CARLOS MATURIN, Plaintiff, v. Civ. No. 24-1125 JCH/SCY T-MOBILE USA, INC., Defendant.

ORDER AWARDING ATTORNEY’S FEES AND COSTS This matter is before the Court on the Notice of Filing Affidavit in Support of Attorney’s Fees and Costs (Dkt. No. 100). On January 8, 2026, this Court entered an Order Regarding Objections and Adopting Proposed Findings and Recommendation (Dkt. No. 95). As relevant here, the Court granted Defendant’s request for sanctions, requiring Plaintiff to pay Defendant’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, necessary to investigate any of the false citations Plaintiff used in any filings; related to Defendant’s motion for sanctions (Dkt. No. 67) and its supplement (Dkt No. 73); and related to Plaintiff’s failure to appear at his August 15, 2025 deposition. Order 3-4, Dkt. No. 95. The Court ordered Defendant to file an affidavit outlining the attorney’s fees and costs that it requests pertaining to the sanctions awarded and gave Plaintiff 14 days thereafter to file objections to the amount Defendant requests. Id. at 4. Defendant timely filed its affidavit on January 21, 2026. Notice, Dkt. No. 100. Plaintiff filed an appeal with the Tenth Circuit on January 12, 2026, which was dismissed on February 17, 2026. Order, Dkt. No. 102. The Court extended the time for Plaintiff to file objections to the Affidavit for attorney’s fees and costs to March 6, 2026. Order, Dkt. No. 103. Plaintiff failed to timely object to the amounts requested.

“To determine the reasonableness of a fee request, a court must begin by calculating the so-called ‘lodestar amount’ of a fee, and a claimant is entitled to the presumption that this lodestar amount reflects a ‘reasonable’ fee.” Robinson v. City of Edmond, 160 F.3d 1275, 1281 (10th Cir. 1998). The lodestar calculation is the product of the number of hours reasonably expended and the reasonable hourly rate. Jd. The Court has given due consideration to the factors in determining the reasonableness of the rates and hours expended in this case and determines that Defendant has met its burden to demonstrate that the requested fee award is both appropriate and reasonable.

IT IS THEREFORE ORDERED that the Court hereby imposes sanctions against Plaintiff Carlos Maturin in the amount of $8,640.34 for attorney’s fees and costs, to be paid on or before April 9, 2026.

AN UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE