Chapter 17 - The Verdict
Jury deliberated nearly three days.
Not instant.
They convicted Ryan on major continuing-confinement and assault-related counts, electronic evidence tampering/obstruction, and conspiracy.
Acquitted him on one medical-abuse count prosecutors could not prove he understood the specific substance used on a particular date.
Good.
Margaret was convicted of unlawful confinement/complicity, assault-related medical abuse counts supported by evidence, and conspiracy.
Acquitted on one count tied to an unidentified mixture where chemical proof was insufficient.
Again.
Separation.
Truth.
The verdict did not end federal case.
Nathan Cole later negotiated federal pleas based on electronic monetization and false consent representations.
Ryan pleaded guilty to wire-fraud-related conduct and unlawful electronic harassment/obstruction-related charge? Let's be careful. Could say "federal wire-fraud count tied to obtaining subscription revenue through false consent representations, plus an obstruction count related to account deletion attempts." Margaret pleaded to conspiracy to commit wire fraud through her LLC and false records? We'll frame generally.
No need exact statute.
Sentencing coordinated.
Ryan’s effective state sentence:
Fourteen years.
Federal sentence:
Five years, largely concurrent, with eighteen months consecutive because separate electronic conduct.
Effective total:
About fifteen and a half years before release eligibility/supervision rules.
Margaret:
State effective term ten years.
Federal four years mostly concurrent, adding one year.
Effective roughly eleven.
She was sixty.
No life sentence.
No seventy-year revenge.
Serious, finite consequences.
They appealed state convictions.
Mostly affirmed.
One lesser count merged at resentencing, reducing Ryan by six months and Margaret by three.
May you like
Final effective terms adjusted modestly.
No exoneration.
