The saying, our legal system can indict a cheese sandwich. The nightmare, when a Congressman said, “I am going to destroy you and your family”. My immediate reaction was, I have not done anything that even gives the appearance of impropriety, much less illegal so don’t worry about it. There is noway that will ever happen. In my allocution, I expose the corrupt judicial system we were personally subjected to which includes Assistant United States Attorneys and even two Federal Judges, carrying out the wishes of a disgruntled Congressman. After 811 days in federal prison, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned all of our convictions.
The only time that a convicted felon can address the court is right before sentencing. Historically, this is the time to say mia culpa, it is my fault. I am sorry. Please be lenient with your punishment.
Rarely does one take more than a couple of minutes. Our story is much different. We were innocent and we collective took over an hour telling a federal judge that even the federal judge in our case, allowed for lies against us by federal proscecutors and prevented our constitutional right to a fair trial. In the end, the conflicted federal judge sua sponte transfered file from Del Rio to Waco. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed our convictions. In a theft case, the Honorable Federal Judge Kathelyn Cardone accepted our plea but DENIED the proscecutors their request for restitution, and ordered our restitution to be zero. Judge Cardone gives rise to hope that not all within the system are corrupt and that she acted courageously in taking a position against those made by her two predecesors in our case. Only because of the Grace and Mercy of our Heavenly Father, the intersession of our Blessed Virgin Mary, and the endless prayers of my mother, family, and friends are we free today. My sentence was for 235 months, ending in February 2028. The decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals to VACATE all of our convictions came in 5 January 2010 and we were eventually released on 26 April 2010. As I write this note, it is our 13th anniversary of our release, a day for jubilation, as shown in the pictorial slides. Here is our Allocution.
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