LESSON: As a successful business leader, you must take a step back and understand the inside reality of how the DOJ & Federal Court System actually works. Knowledge is power, and possibly the protection you may need to be better prepared than I was. 100% true facts below.
The lesson below is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Icarus: Zero to a Billion to Zero, January 2026, Ash Press.
In the spirit of the massive new movement to bring transparency and accountability to the bloated (understatement) United States Government, I want to release a list of true-life-experience facts and observations of the system. I will cover only a few today but will release the series to help you be much better informed than I was while I rejected 3 separate federal plea offers to stand up for what I believe was right. Protect your success.
1. At trial, the government presents closing arguments, then the defense presents, and then the government presents again to re-persuade the jury. Psych 101 explains this overwhelming psychological advantage on the common man juror. (Still, I had a hung jury, but the judge refused, and they were ordered back for a 5th week and quickly found consensus and went home to their own families.)
2. The judge, Robert Doumar in my case, sits 8 feet above all others and takes an extremely active role in influencing the outcome of testimony and jurors’ perception of who is wrong and right. 180 degrees from the stated independent arbiter of truth. (Based on the bizarre proceedings of my trial, and my pro se filings, I was eventually able to have two separate federal judges removed).
3. The federal prosecutors, defense attorneys, and judges all socialize and attend conferences together at places such as the Greenbrier and Homestead Resorts. (This was the admission from my defense attorney, James Broccoletti, when I questioned how everyone is so pleasant and cooperative, and seemingly on the same page, while I was fighting for my life, literally).
4. Due to overwhelming workloads, Public Defenders rarely spend any substantial time with their appointed client and most often have merely a cursory view of the facts of the case, the ones written by the prosecutors. (While I was being held at horrific Western Tidewater Regional Jail for 8 months to soften me up while they tried to get me to accept a plea offer, inmate after inmate would come back to our 30-man cell from meeting their public defender only 20 minutes before being presented in front of a judge to accept the prosecutor’s plea terms, or else. The reported attorney fee paid by the government – your taxes - is $15k per process).
5. The Pre-Sentence Report (PSR), which the government office, again, prepares to record all the facts about the case and the defendant to inform the judge on how long to sentence the defendant, is often presented to the defendant for review minutes before the plea hearing. (Inmates would come back furious that there was a long list of inaccuracies that didn’t even apply to their case. I was fortunate to receive mine for review a few days in advance. I noted 112 discrepancies, which were never corrected, and I was told “it doesn’t matter.”).
Well, that should be enough for Part I. There are so many on the list. I hope you open your eyes to how the government operates well in advance of my too-late enlightenment. As always, please let me know how I may help or inform with any adversity situation you may encounter yourself. It is my mission.
Have a great week!
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Just One More: Just One More: The Wisdom of Bob Vukovich: Martinovich, Mr Jeffrey A: 9781790554850: Amazon.com: Books
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