“Ten Russian spies who posed for years as everyday Americans dropped their aliases, pleaded guilty and were booted back to Moscow yesterday in a massive prisoner exchange . . . the spies were whisked out of court immediately and dispatched straight to La Guardia Airport where they boarded a government plane for a direct flight to Moscow as part of a deal . . . the spies were loaded into a Boeing 767 that took off at 9:30 p.m.” (New York Post, July 9, 2010. Page 9.)
Aliens can be deported immediately after serving their sentences? When Immigration officials (ICE) tell foreign prisoners that they have to be processed before they can be deported, which could take as long as two to six months, they are lying? Oh. Well, tell that to all the aliens awaiting deportation, because defense lawyers are the fools who have been informing their clients of the lengthy delay. Well no more—not me. Now we know what we should have always known. The government can do whatever it wants. So Colombians, Dominicans and all other deportable aliens should know that if the government wanted to, it could deport you immediately after service of your sentence, that day, in a matter of hours. The Russian spies pled guilty, were sentenced to time served and by nightfall were on their way home.
So I apologize to all my clients and other defendants who rightly said, the government can do what it wants and, we defense attorneys, patronizingly told them they were wrong, that this is America and things do not work that way, “separation of powers,” “independence of governmental agencies.” Bullshit. I for one will never say that again.
True, drug dealers are not Russian spies and the fate of Russian‚ÄìU.S. relations are not at stake. But that does not mean that the government cannot do whatever it wants. It just means that they are not going to do it for YOU. So now I am going to tell my clients, the government does not want to do it for YOU, not that they cannot do it. I recall a Colombian client of mine, a rather famous client who was used to getting his way. He was a public figure who, during his heyday, if he burped it was reported in La Semana. He said to me that if the government wanted to designate him to a particular prison in the Bureau of Prison system (BOP), they could do it. And I would say, quite patronizingly, that all a prosecutor can do is make a recommendation to the BOP, echoing exactly what prosecutors in Miami, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Washington D.C. say all the time. “Oh, no, I‚Äôm sorry. We can only make a recommendation. We have no control.” Bullshit. If the BOP wants to work with the U.S. Attorney‚Äôs offices, they most certainly can, and the Russian spy case proves it. The department of immigration didn‚Äôt insist that the Russian spies be “processed,” that they remain in county jails for two months before getting their deportation orders. The President of the United States said, get these spies pled, sentenced and out of here, and in less than half a day, yes less than half a day, all eleven spies pled guilty in the afternoon, and were deported that evening.
So, my apologies to all my friends. The government can designate you to a place of your choosing. The government can get you out of solitary confinement. The government can deport you within hours of your release. The Government can sentence you minutes after you plead guilty, without waiting six weeks. It just doesn’t want to. The defendants were right and the defense lawyers were wrong.
I am going to stop carrying water for the government. If government officials don’t extend themselves for you as part of a deal, it is NOT because they cannot. It is because they do not want to.