Every Man for Himself

By David Zapp

In 2009 a group of Colombians were arrested for extradition and were sent to Combita. The group held a meeting and they agreed that they would not discuss any pre-indictment criminal activity. But as soon as the group trickled up to the United States, one by one, the members of the group folded and two, maybe all started talking about everything–except for one.

When that “one” came into the room to speak to the prosecutor (to come from under the mandatory minimum in narcotic cases), he followed the agreed plan and he was caught in the lie.

Don’t ever rely on promises made by your “band of brothers” to stick together. It is not going to happen. In the federal system it is every man for himself. It is not pretty and does not speak well of humankind, but if you are not careful you may be the only honorable” person doing ten-twenty years in prison while your band of brothers are doing a fraction of that.

← Back to articles | Back to top

Comments are closed.