Chapter 18 - The Verdict
Jury deliberated two and a half days.
Lydia convicted on conspiracy to commit wire fraud and several substantive wire-fraud counts tied to specified inflated invoices and undisclosed kickbacks.
Convicted on laundering/concealment-related counts tied to particular transfers.
Acquitted on two counts involving payments where prosecutors could not establish beyond reasonable doubt the underlying fee was fraudulent rather than merely undisclosed.
Good.
Not everything criminal.
Tax matter resolved separately through civil assessments and one criminal tax count? Could complicate. Let's keep tax penalties civil after plea with IRS; no need.
The verdict established approximately $2.3 million in criminally attributable proceeds under court findings, lower than $3.7 million unsupported audit amount.
That distinction mattered.
Civil governance loss larger.
Criminal proof narrower.
Lydia’s face did not change when verdict read.
Then she looked at Ethan.
Not me.
He sat behind prosecution side? As witness, maybe gallery.
She mouthed:
You chose her.
Ethan shook his head.
Later he told me what he wanted to say.
“No. I chose truth.”
He did not say it in courtroom.
May you like
Good.
Some lines belong to private understanding.
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