Well you know what they say, just plan a nice late morning swim and the phone will ring! It did I got my first call from John Connolly, and then Robert Iafolla called and told me that the jury was ready and get to the courthouse by noon — it was already after 11:30 AM. I was out of the pool and at the courthouse by 12:01PM, not bad!
The place was jumping, the guards were milling around and the players were all there. Lally and Saunders were very quiet, almost like a couple of big dogs who had just treed the neighbor’s cat and were getting ready to take a snooze under the tree and wait…and wait they did! All the games had been played and the Jury had done their job, and at 12:15 PM Judge Fischer began to read Pellicanos charges, all 77 of them…on 76 of them he was found guilty! And worst of all was the RICO act…talk about some bad fish! Pellicano just sat there, at one time tried to smile but remained very stoic, almost like he could not move. He looked around the courtroom and was almost comatose. It took almost 1/2 an hour for the judge to
read his charges and it was very slow and almost “wah wah.” It was all melding together for me. His wife Kat sat and listened and was also very stoic and looked straight ahead. Could it be 6-7 years and maybe 20 more for RICO? The Pelican is so done, but he still has not said a word and appeared to find all of this entertaining. What does he feel about Omerta, I guess it worked for him!
Note: I was told that he blew through almost all of this money and never saved any money for his one child, who is not well. What about the oath to provide for your family?
Next in line was my “buddy” the Sarge, Mark Arneson. It was the worst scenario for a cop, Guilty of RICO and 44 other charges, that could be…20 plus years in prison! It will have to be in “protective custody” or he won’t have a prayer. Yup, it will be double the hell in prison, a dirty cop and all the rest won’t be good for him! His wife looked as if the jury had just smacked her…it was sad, but what did she think? The jury saw and heard what we had and it was “Guilty” all the way…Da Sarge did it all and got caught. “Don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time!” The other problem for the Sarge is that this judge is going to make an example of this dirty copper who saw “nothing wrong” with what he did, hell everyone does it…NOT!
Ray Turner got the smack down too, RICO and GUILTY of 14 of the 18 charges against him…he too seemed pretty much resigned to the fact that this was not going to be a good day, Happy Ray was looking a little sad!
One of the more amusing verdicts was for Lil Abner Nicherie. LMAO, after watching him for weeks taking his nice long naps and coming in late he was wide awake today, yes he was, as the judge said….GUILTY, you nitwit! No, she did not say “nitwit,” that was me! He put his face in his hands and just looked like he got smacked with a dead Pelican! This grifter already is a convicted felon, and now this? He is so F%@#ed. This judge is going to lay chubby away…you watch when she sticks him with the full sentencing guidelines…but for that we have to wait until September.
Here is my prediction: based on what we witnessed today, Terry N. Christensen (the only lawyer to get caught in the Pelican net) better make a deal! He does not want to go forward with a trial based on the evidence against him. He is right there talking with the Pelican and he is in as deep as he can get! He is rich and will be rich when he gets out of prison, people are also saying that Kerkorian will take care of him…..Hmmm!
Lots of reporters waiting for the verdicts and the jurors outside. I was asked what it was like in the courtroom, all I could think of was what a turkey farm must look like during Thanksgiving…it was a slaughter! Feathers everywere — not turkey feathers but Pelican feathers!