Today’s
excerpt is from Baghdad Butcher, Book #1 of the nine-book Janitors Series. Tom Wilson and his attorney feel there is a
way to lighten the sentence he is likely to receive for his involvement in the
drug running operation. The U.S.
Attorney feel the same way, even though he himself doesn’t know what is to come. Enjoy and have a fantastic day.
m.j.
Once all had
been returned to L.A., the criminals were booked. The three wounded Iraqis were taken to
surgery, while Tom was placed in an interrogation room. John wanted to handle this one himself.
“Mr. Wilson,”
John started, “I am John Engle, the U.S. Attorney for Los Angeles. It has been suggested to me that I urge you
to get yourself an attorney other than the one your friends will be using. Beyond that, I have nothing else to discuss
with you for the time being. A phone
will be brought in here for you to use.
Do you know an attorney? One here
in Los Angeles?”
“Yes, sir. My parent’s family attorney, Mike Vitro.”
“Good, I suggest
you call him.”
Tom Wilson said
nothing as John turned and left the interrogation room. Once alone, Tom had time to reflect on a few
things: “Other than my rights, that
is the first thing anybody said to me, and it had to come from the U.S.
Attorney himself. Tom, boy, you’re in
deep doo doo.”
When the phone
was brought to him, Tom called Mike Vitro and asked Vitro to come see him. When Vitro arrived, Tom told him about the
shootout, arrest, and the brief interview he had with John Engle. Vitro replied, “Tom, you’re in serious
trouble. I’ve never heard of the U.S.
Attorney being involved in an arrest, nor have I heard of him holding the first
interview with a prisoner, especially without anyone else being present. Somebody, somewhere thinks this is one big
case. And from what you told me about
the quantity of drugs, I’d have to agree.
But I have a looming suspicion there is even more to this than your
everyday drug bust.”
Just as he
finished saying that, John Engle came into the interrogation room, stuck out
his hand, and stated, “John Engle.”
Vitro replied,
“Mike Vitro, Mr. Engle,” and shook John’s hand.
After the
introduction, John got right to the point. “Mr. Vitro, I don’t know you
personally, and I’ve never heard of you before.
Your client is obviously facing some charges. For now, I’d like to place him in solitary
confinement. If you agree, we plan no
further conversation with him at this time.”
“Mr. Engle, I’m
not a criminal attorney. But I can tell
something strange is going on here.
Would you care to enlighten me?”
“Not
really. I will say this. It is possible, only possible…and not
being offered at this time…that your client may be offered some sort of
deal for his cooperation. To keep that
possibility on the table, I want him kept away from the others he was arrested
with, and their attorney. We don’t want
to wave any red flags about why he is in solitary confinement, so we’ll cook up
a story about him trying to escape by attacking an officer or something of the
sort. I would suggest that you do not
get another attorney involved at this time.
If it comes to deal making, I promise to be fair and allow you the
opportunity to check with a criminal attorney about the value of the deal
offered.”
Vitro looked at
Tom. “You’re going to solitary
confinement. I don’t begin to understand
what is going on here, but if there is some sort of deal possible, you go to
solitary confinement and don’t open your mouth to anybody.”
Tom swallowed
and replied, “Yes, sir.”
Turning to John,
Vitro nodded. “As I just told my client,
this isn’t making much sense, but if there is some way to lessen the severity
of the sentence he might receive, we’ll go along for awhile.”
“Smart
decision,” John replied and left the interrogation room.
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