Chapter 32: The Trial
After three weeks of waiting and healing, Richie went to trial. His lawyer was a Jewish man named Shlomo Abraham.
"So do they have any kind of witnesses willing to testify against me?" Richie whispered to Shlomo as they prepared for the trial to start.
"They have one, an informant. Apparently he was one of the guys that worked in your crew. He's also testifying at Dickie Zitto and Nicky Leone's trials." Shlomo replied.
"Who the fck is it? Is it Sergio? Is it Marco? Is it Felix?" Richie questioned worriedly.
"No, they caught Sergio and he got deported back to Italy. It's Nero. He got busted for selling cocaine through his pizza place. After he testifies at all the trials, he is going into the witness protection program." Shlomo answered.
"Nero? What the fck? That guy made more money then any of my soldiers and he can't do a little fcking time on the inside." Richie responded angrily.
"They threatened him with thirty five years in prison. So he flipped." Shlomo replied.
"All rise for the honorable Judge Arnold James Rowley." The bailiff announced as everyone rose to their feet.
Judge Rowley entered the court and started the trial. After a few minutes, Nero was called to the stand as a witness. As Nero told the court about everything that Richie had done, Richie sat there glaring at Nero. All he could think about is how he wanted to cut out Nero's heart and shove it down the Judge's throat. After the trial was over, Richie was escorted by guards out of the court room.
On the way out, he past Nero, "I'll find you one day, and when I do I'll cut your eyes and shove them down your throat." Richie whispered as he spit in Nero's face.
Nero just slowly wiped the spit off his face and remained silent. He knew Richie wasn't lying. Richie had received twenty five years in prison with the possibility of parole in two years. A few days after the trial, Richie, along with a few other prisoners, piled into a prison transport bus. Most of the prisoners were either black or Latino, no Italians except for Richie. He stared out the window as the bus drove to the state prison. The bus parked and the prisons walked off it in a single filed line, with Richie at the back. After a few minutes of being read the rules, the guards took the prisoners inside. Cell block after cell block, Richie would wait each time as they piled a few prisoners into their cells. Richie was the only one left and they took him to cell block F.
"Ok guinea, here's your cell." The guard said as he opened it up.
"One day I'll get you back for that comment…Silas." Richie replied as he read the guard's name tag.
"Whatever guinea, get in there." Silas the guard responded as he took off Richie's handcuffs and pushed Richie inside.
There were two bunks inside the cell with a big black man standing there.
"Fresh meat huh? I'm Dyson and I run this block understand bitch?" Dyson announced.
Richie walked over to Dyson and kneed him in the groin. Dyson fell to the ground clutching his privates. Richie began stomping and kicking Dyson's face and chest.
"I run things now, not you!" Richie shouted at Dyson.
After Richie finished the beating, Dyson laid there not moving much at all, in a puddle of his own blood.
"I think Dyson is dead." A prisoner in the cell across from Richie's said. "Hey man, who are you?"
Richie sat down on one of the beds and replied, "I'm a wiseguy."
The End