Chapter 14 - The Sentencing
The sentencing hearing took place a month later.
The judge did not hold back his absolute contempt for my parents.
He called their actions the most depraved example of elder exploitation he had ever seen.
He sentenced my father to fifteen years in a federal penitentiary with no chance of early parole.
My mother received ten years in a minimum-security women's facility.
They were ordered to pay full restitution to Nana, though the frozen assets already covered it.
As they were led out of the courtroom in handcuffs, my mother looked at me one last time.
She mouthed the words, "I'm sorry," but her eyes were still entirely empty.
I didn't nod, I didn't smile, and I certainly didn't cry.
I turned my back on them and walked out of the courthouse into the bright afternoon sun.
Marcus was waiting outside, smoking a celebratory cigar and looking incredibly pleased.
He shook my hand and told me I was the most terrifying client he had ever represented.
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I took that as the highest possible compliment a lawyer could receive.
The nightmare was finally over, and the villains were exactly where they belonged.
