Chapter 5 - The Legal Battle Begins
Because the amount stolen exceeded state limits and involved federal student loans, the FBI eventually took over the identity theft portion of the case. My parents were facing a combined total of twenty years in prison.
They hired a sleazy, cut-rate defense attorney named Vance, using the last of their legitimately earned savings. Vance requested a mediation meeting, hoping to intimidate me into signing an affidavit claiming it was a "family misunderstanding" to lessen their sentence.
I walked into the conference room at the district attorney’s office flanked by Maya and the state prosecutor, a shark of a woman named Ms. Sterling.
My parents sat across the table. They looked terrible. The stress of the holding cell and the public humiliation had aged them ten years. My mother’s roots were showing, her posture defeated. My father, however, still possessed that simmering, arrogant rage.
“Lila,” Vance began, offering a greasy smile. “We are all family here. Your parents made some... misjudgments in household asset allocation. But dragging them through a federal trial will ruin your reputation as much as theirs. We’re offering a settlement. They will pay back the loans over the next ten years, and you ask the DA for leniency.”
“No,” I said flatly.
My father slammed his fist on the table. “You ungrateful little wretch! We raised you! We put a roof over your head! You owe us!”
“I owe you nothing,” I fired back, my voice remarkably steady. “You charged me rent the day I turned eighteen. You stole the money Grandpa left me. You hit me in public. You don’t want to make amends; you want to avoid a prison cell.”
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Ms. Sterling leaned forward. “Mr. Vance, your clients committed felony fraud. We have a mountain of paper trail evidence. We are not offering a plea deal, and my client is not intimidated by your tantrums. See you in court.”
I walked out of that room feeling ten feet tall. The chains of fear they had wrapped around my neck for twenty-two years were finally broken.
