Yesterday, the only remaining fugitive narcotics kingpin client from my old money laundering days entered a plea of guilty in United States District Court in Gainesville, Florida*. Christine Marie Dickinson was the head of the "Human Resources" section of a large drug trafficking organisation. That means she was responsible for hiring and supervising the boat crews that smuggled marijuana and cocaine through the Caribbean, and into the Continental United States. Unfortunately, she became extremely arrogant after she had all those drug profits, and she moved some of her narco-dollars to Switzerland, against my advice. (Those of you who have already read my book, The Laundry Man, know her as Kelly). The United States and Switzerland, in their first joint money laundering investigation, seized her Swiss funds in 1991, together with those of other clients who didn't listen to me.
A fugitive from justice for eighteen years, she returned to the US after her drug case was dismissed by a Federal Judge, after the DEA reported that it could no longer assemble a winning case, due to the fact that it was from the late 1980s. Whoever the lawyer was who advised her that it was safe to return apparently neglected to check for any other pending criminal cases, for she was still a fugitive in my money laundering case, from 1990. She was arrested at a local government office in small-town Florida, when she attempted to obtain a Florida Identification Card. The clerk ran her name, and found the arrest warrant. Since Florida now requires proof of citizenship for driver's licenses, there was a law enforcement officer present, and he made the arrest.
As you can imagine, the case against her, as the last major defendant, was probably ironclad. A pre-Sentence Investigation Report (PSI) will now be prepared, and a sentencing date will be scheduled for sometime later this Fall.
Two of Christine's boat crew members, and her ex-boyfriend, Michael Gruener, all at that time already in Federal custody and seeking leniency, offered evidence against me, and that is the reason that I was charged with RICO and a lesser offence. They actually did me a favour, for if I had continued my career as a money launderer, I would probably not have survived the Miami Vice era. She was on the run for the past two decades, looking over her shoulder, and waiting for the proverbial "Knock on the Door," which is no way to live, no matter how much money you have in your tax haven bank accounts. Crime does not pay; You cannot put a value on the stress involved; it is not for the faint at heart.
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*United States vs. Christine Marie Dickinson, Case No.: 90-cr-01014-MMP-GRJ (ND FL).
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| Christine then. |
A fugitive from justice for eighteen years, she returned to the US after her drug case was dismissed by a Federal Judge, after the DEA reported that it could no longer assemble a winning case, due to the fact that it was from the late 1980s. Whoever the lawyer was who advised her that it was safe to return apparently neglected to check for any other pending criminal cases, for she was still a fugitive in my money laundering case, from 1990. She was arrested at a local government office in small-town Florida, when she attempted to obtain a Florida Identification Card. The clerk ran her name, and found the arrest warrant. Since Florida now requires proof of citizenship for driver's licenses, there was a law enforcement officer present, and he made the arrest.
As you can imagine, the case against her, as the last major defendant, was probably ironclad. A pre-Sentence Investigation Report (PSI) will now be prepared, and a sentencing date will be scheduled for sometime later this Fall.
 |
| Christine now |
Two of Christine's boat crew members, and her ex-boyfriend, Michael Gruener, all at that time already in Federal custody and seeking leniency, offered evidence against me, and that is the reason that I was charged with RICO and a lesser offence. They actually did me a favour, for if I had continued my career as a money launderer, I would probably not have survived the Miami Vice era. She was on the run for the past two decades, looking over her shoulder, and waiting for the proverbial "Knock on the Door," which is no way to live, no matter how much money you have in your tax haven bank accounts. Crime does not pay; You cannot put a value on the stress involved; it is not for the faint at heart.
_____________________________________________________________________
*United States vs. Christine Marie Dickinson, Case No.: 90-cr-01014-MMP-GRJ (ND FL).
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