Silk Road Takedown by Curtis Green

Author:Curtis Green [Green, Curtis]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: David Farland Entertainment
Published: 2018-08-13T04:00:00+00:00

13: Getting Squeezed

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Spanish Fork, Utah

I’ve always loved the phrase, “When life gives you a lemon, make lemonade.” That’s great unless you’re the lemon.

Tonya went with me on the fifty-mile drive to Salt Lake. It was just eight days since I’d been arrested. Having her with me in the car eased some of my tension but not all. There had been a lot more silence than usual between us since she’d come home. The uncomfortable kind of silence that feels like low, brooding storm clouds.

We found a dozen or so people from various agencies waiting for us in a conference room at the Secret Service building when we arrived, at about 9:00 in the morning. Carl milled among them, accompanied by an agent he introduced as Shaun Bridges.

Bridges is a little man, with rather large ears that complete a mousy impression. Certainly not the image one would expect for a Secret Service Agent.

“I thought the Secret Service just protects the President,” I said.

“We do,” Bridges replied. “I’ve served on some high-profile presidential details. But we also get involved in anything to do with money and the Treasury, and there’s a lot of money involved in the Silk Road case.”

I learned that he had once been in charge of details guarding Michelle Obama, and that raised my opinion of him.

Carl also introduced me to a youthful but aggressive and cocky attorney. “Justin Herring,” Carl said. “He’s the AUSA, Assistant United States Attorney, and he’s in charge today.”

We exchanged a quick, curt handshake. “My lawyer mentioned your name to me,” I said.

When Tonya started to follow me into the conference room, Carl raised a hand in a ‘stop’ gesture, like a traffic cop. “I’m sorry, but you can’t come in, ma’am.”

“Fine,” she replied with a bit of a snap. “I’ll be down in the lobby. I brought plenty to read.” She waved her Kindle in his face and hefted the bag full of books on her arm.

Momentary panic twisted my insides as she pivoted and strode up the tiled hallway, but Carl nudged my shoulder. “Come on, Curtis, let’s get this show on the road.”

Another brief panic swept over me when I saw how many people actually occupied the conference room. Fifteen at least, maybe eighteen. All people I’d never seen before.

They probably chartered an FBI airplane or something to bring in a crowd like that.

I craned around for a moment and spotted my lawyer among the muttering government personnel, who all milled around with their Styrofoam cups of early-morning coffee. Upon realizing that I had entered, she crossed to me at once.

“We’ve developed the proffer agreement for you, Curtis,” she told me in hushed tones, as if to prevent the others moving through the room from overhearing him. “Basically, what this means for you is that as long as you are completely truthful with the investigators, nothing you say during this session can be used or brought against you, either in prosecution or in sentencing. Do you understand that?”

“Yes, ma’m,” I assured her.

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