Chapter 8
"Mario, it was good of you to turn yourself in. You don't want this hanging over your head for the rest of your life," Carisi started the conversation with the son of corrupt attorney Anthony Taglietti. They were in one of the conference rooms at the DA's office.
"We're still not sure how you managed to get a warrant for his arrest on murder charges. He was hardly old enough to be an accomplice to the murder of Ron Davidson," it was Mario's lawyer from the public defender's office, a woman by the name of Claire Delacruz.
"Simple, when they moved poor Ron Davidson, there was no way he didn't know about it. We also have the firm's books and records. Mario here was in it up to his eyeballs and we know that he was tracking down witnesses and making some of them disappear. The case was handed off to Financial Crimes and they're using OCCB to help them make some of the connections. We will get there and Mario will be charged with all of his crimes or he can come clean now and we make sure he gets out of jail sometime in the next fifty years," Carisi told her.
"I never killed anybody. Any witnesses that went away, that wasn't me. I was just following them and reporting back to my pops," Mario spoke up.
"Mario, we have at least five people that have seemingly dropped off the face of the planet. No activity on their social security numbers. Families pressing their local precincts for more information. You're saying they aren't dead?" Olivia spoke up, giving him a look. The man nor his lawyer answered.
"They didn't go on an extended holiday Mario. Some of these people have been missing for years," Carisi pressed.
"Look if I knew that they were being murdered, I'd have stopped him. Dad promised me that I was doing a good thing and when he said that the cases were dropped, I just figured he'd done his job. It's not like I checked up on these people after the cases went away," Mario admitted.
"So, you never grew suspicious on how this happened?" Olivia raised an eyebrow.
"Most of Dad's cases were settled for misdemeanors and some chump change time. We weren't working high profile stuff with a few exceptions. It's why so many people came to him for help. If he could take a case that could land you in the joint for ten years and get it knocked down to two years in Rikers, wouldn't you take it? I mean a good number of my dad's clients were repeat offenders," Mario explained.
"See now we know that's not true. Your dad was part of the mob. Those guys he got deals? They worked for some of the largest crime families in New York. You were either helping him get rid of evidence or witnesses or you know who was," Carisi pressed.
"Whoa. Before we go any further, what kind of deal is on the table? My client is going to need some sort of assurance and protection," Claire Delacruz spoke up upon hearing the ADA's assertions.
"If he can help us bag some of the higher-ranking members of these families, I'll make sure he does his time in federal prison, away from New York. The FBI is looking for Rico charges and if this helps them, they in turn, will help him, but only if we can confirm what he says," that was something that Olivia had not been suspecting. She'd informed Sergeant Bell of their meeting, who promised to swing by SVU's precinct after they caught their street racers, and now she wondered if the Sergeant knew about the Feds.
"I need a few moments with my client," Claire told him. Carisi and Olivia nodded and headed out of the room.
"The Feds?" Olivia gave him a look.
"Just happened this morning. Financial Crimes was running something and they got a call from the FBI. Seems we were working the same case," Carisi admitted. Olivia huffed before wondering,
"You believe him?"
"Honestly, I could see Anthony trying to insulate his son, but I don't see Mario being dumb enough to believe it, after a while," the ADA figured.
"I'm surprised you think he'll rat out his dad. We only have some circumstantial evidence on him," Olivia told him.
"Yeah, but he doesn't know that. Anthony kept two sets of books. The second one was buried in the back of a drawer under a false backing. Whether Mario knew it or not, he was marking some of those poor folks for death," Carisi explained.
"Making him an accomplice," Olivia nodded.
"Exactly so," Carisi smiled. That's when Olivia's phone interrupted them. She quickly checked the text.
"Amanda found Albert's mom. She and Velasco are going to pick her up," the Captain told him.
"Want to finish what you started, or do you need to go?" He asked.
"Let's finish this," she nodded before responding to Amanda.
To Be Continued…