ASCENSION (31 page)

The prosecutor
counter—
argued
Alfonzo was a flight risk
and the
judge agreed
.
Alfonzo’s bail was denied.
The attorney
loudly voiced
his disapproval and plan
s
to appeal
.
The judge
ordered
Alfonzo
remanded
back
to MCC
until the next
court hearing in thirty days.

Selange gasped
in shock
,
“
What
…what happened
?

“
Stronzate
son
pazzo
!”
Giuseppe mumbled beside her.

Alfonzo was quickly escorted out of the courtroom
and a
court officer announced
the name of the next detainee
.
Selange collected her belongings and
scurried to the hall to wait for the
a
ttorney
.
H
e
emerged
a few minutes later and
she cornered him.
“W
hat
happened, why did they deny bail?”

“
L
et’s walk,” he
said moving
away from the curious onlookers, “the judge believes
w
ith your husband’s money and influence he may skip town. This is a high profile case
with
an ambitious D.A.
T
he FBI
are
hoping to prove
the
y’re
still an effective agency
.
It’s
political
and
someone’s pulling strings to keep him detained.
”

“I don’t care about any of that. I want my husband out of jail. Do whatever you need
t
o do but I want him out!”

Martin Scheppe was a top-notch criminal attorney. He represented
many high-profile clients and came with an impressive track record for acquittals. She
’d
use every cent to get
Alfonzo
free. Martin assured her he would
b
e in touch and they walked out into
what w
ere
the beginning
s
of snowfall
in New York
City
.
They r
eached the base
of
the
stairs
of
the
Federal c
ourt
b
uilding
downtown
and she looked around for the car.
In close
proximity
were
a
U.S. Bankruptcy Court,
Supreme
Court and
City Hall
which
a
ccounted
for
the bus
tling
streets and
congestion.

Martin said good-bye then rushed around the building toward
Park Row
just
as
Nico
rolled up in
a
rented
Mercedes-Benz
and she climbed in followed by Giuseppe
.

She gave him the bad news and said,
“I need to
get to
San Juan tonight,” Selange
announced
.

“I’ll arrange it”

“
Thanks Nico
.”
She said then she
stared
blankly
out the window as they headed for the Brooklyn Bridge
still in shock
.

The most torturous feeling was one of helplessness, especially when someone you
l
ove
is
suffering.
Alfonzo asked
her to tell the
family not to com
e to the
arraignment,
he
did not want them exposed to the
media scrutiny. Once again, her husband was trying to
protect the people he loved despite his
p
recarious predicament.
She refused to sit idly by this time. She would not lose her family.
The attorney believed someone with connections asserted pressure to have her husband unfairly detained. Based upon everything she knew there was one man who possessed enough clout to do it. They were on his turf, in his playing field and she was going to level it with force if she had to!

Selange called Anita to give her time-off with
generous vacation pay and assurance
that everyone was fine.
After saying good-bye to the housekeeper, Selange
formulat
ed her plan.

***

I
nmate
number 8
2
259
tossed the Admission and Orientation Manual for Pre-Trial
Inmates into
the
wastebasket.

I don’t plan on being here long enough to read that shit!

Al
fonzo
kicked off the hard cot
and dropped
to the floor
and began a
series of
s
corpion
p
ushups.
He kept at it until
the solid color
khaki
shirt became heavy with perspiration and clung
to his
body. He switched onto his back
to perform abdominal and twisting crunches.
It was frustrating being caged like an animal without
basic amenities. What was
the
purpose
of his incarceration
anyway
, was it rehabilitation or punishment
or did it even matter he
wasn’t
a
convicted
criminal
?
F
light risk
,
that’s what the prosecutor argued.
Maybe the prosecutor
didn’t realize Puerto Rico was a
n unincorporated territory of the United States
, dumbass!
Puerto Rico was
under the
laws and j
urisdiction of the United States
, guess they were afraid he’d flee to a goddamn US territory. Man, this detainment had to be
u
nconstitutional
!

Yeah,
the
judge was bribed.
He needed to speak with his uncle, find out if the I.B.D issued
their
decree because if they
did
being locked in here was as good as dead!

Sweat poured from his forehead
as he exceeded the recommended reps for crunches
;
yet he continued fueled by adrenalin and anger. He missed Selange and Sal so much it hurt
.
Finally he sat forward and saw
the
bald c
orrection officer
they called Simmons
watch
ing
with cold
indifference.

“Hey
Diaz,
your attorney is here,”
th
e
officer
announced from
behind
the
thick
bars.

Alfonzo ignored the guard
and
got up to
wash his face. He dried
it just
as the sound of keys
preceded
a
loud clang
as the
cell
door was thrust
open.

“Let’s go!”
The guard
ordered then
instructed him to put
out
his hands
. Cuffs were slapped on his wrists
and he was directed out into the hall where another guard waited. They walked on either side of him, alert and silent.
H
e was
taken down
a long
corridor, a flight of stairs, up another stairwell
adjacent
t
o the detention center
then ushered
into
a brightly lit
conference room
monitored by
watchful
guards.
He
sat in
the
hard chair and placed
his
handcuffed
wrists
atop the table
facing his dapper attorney
.

Martin Scheppe greeted him
with,
“
They grab you out the shower or
something?”

Alfonzo gave a lopsided grin.
“Not exactly, so what’s going on out there?”

I
t was evident by the creases
forming
on
the attorney’s
brow
his
case was going to be difficult and expensive.
“A minor roadblock but I’m working to knock it down.”

Tyree Davis said the same thing!

“Humph
.”
Alfonzo
sat forward, “
Knock them down quickly I
need a real fucking meal.
”

“
I’m working on it. I’m appealing the judges’ denial of your bail and hopefully we’ll
h
ave you out in a few days.”

“Hopefully doesn’t
cut it
. I
want a guarantee.
”
Alfonzo scowled.

“The D.A.
and F
.B.I.
are exerting pressure on the court to keep you detained
until trial. I
’ve
submitted a
writ of habeas corpus
citing
similar cases
where
bail was granted or the
defendant
was released on their own recognizance. I’ll argue this next week at a hearing before an appellate judge.
”

“Have you reviewed
their
evidence?”

“I’ve requested a full examination
but haven’t seen it yet. The D.A. claims to have
business transactions
and other
records
showing
large amounts of money
b
eing
t
ransferred to shell accounts from companies you own. The source of the money they allege is
f
rom illegal gambling rings and insurance scams perpetrated by your organization
in
New York
and abroad
.” He glanced
o
ver at the guard standing nearby and lowered his voice,
“
I
f I can show they were illegally obtained or even put
doubt on the
a
uthenticity of these
documents
we can move for an
immediate
dismissal
.”

“And what’s your secondary
approach
if
i
t fails?”

“I have my team researching loopholes in the RICO statutes
but we also have a
tertiary
c
onsideration,” Martin said in a conspiratorial tone.

Alfonzo’s eyebrow lifted, “Go on.”

“A plea bargain,” he
noticed
Alfonzo’s jaw set obstinately, “but we’ll reserve th
is
until
we’ve exhausted every other legal defense.”

“
W
hat
type of sentence
am I facing?”

Martin pursed his lips
in contemplation then answered, “With no prior arrest history
a
nd leniency of the court, the minimum is six years and the maximum sentence is sixty.
You
have to consider in your case
,
you’
re
less likely to get the minimum. Most high-profile clients suspected of being affiliated with organized crim
e
are
sentenced more harshly
–but
,” he cheered, “
w
e
haven’t gotten there yet. We’re
only
at
the
exploratory
phase in preparation for a pre-trial. You can bet I’m going to fight with every damn
thing I
got to get you out of here A-S-A-P then we’ll talk some more
.”