Shadow Empire

Chapter 823 The real trial

Mayor Wade was definitely annoyed, holding the phone in his hand, and felt a little embarrassed besides being annoyed.

He talks as if he's some evil bad guy!
"Governor, I don't know your..."

He was interrupted by the governor before he could finish his words, "No, you know!"

"I don't care what you and the deputy governor are going to do. Whether you want to kill him or he wants to kill you, it's your business."

"But, Wade, until my ass gets off that damn chair, you, all of you, have to respect me!"

"I don't really want to say this. It makes me seem like I can't do anything about you."

"But Wade, you know, it's not that I can't do anything about you, I just don't want to get involved. Don't force me, okay?"

"At least in this matter, that's it."

The hypocritical smile on Mayor Wade's face gradually faded. This was not the result he wanted, but he knew that no matter what he said, as long as he did not stop, he would definitely stand on the opposite side of the governor.

His expression turned very ugly. Although he didn't really think from the beginning that this incident would cause the deputy governor to withdraw from the election directly, at least he should get more results!

His army had already climbed onto the wall of the deputy governor's city, and it was time to enjoy the fruits of victory, but everything was stopped.

What's the problem?
Now was not the time for him to think about these issues, he could only agree to it first.

No matter how many opportunities he has to run for governor in the future, no matter how high his chances of winning are.

At this moment, he is not yet the candidate, and the governor is still the governor.

As long as the governor is the governor, he is just a mayor!
"I understand, Your Excellency the Governor."

The governor breathed a sigh of relief, "This is for the best!"

After saying that, he hung up the phone directly. It can be seen that he is in a bad mood.

After Mayor Wade hung up the phone, he sat there with a gloomy face. He held his forehead with both hands and thought for a long time. He always felt that he might have missed something.

In the evening of the same day, a spokesman for the Indenno State Prosecutor's Office stated that it would investigate the facts currently circulating that some police officers of the State Police Department were suspected of corruption and crimes.

The situation was rather... ugly. The law enforcers had become evil forces, which was hard for the citizens to accept.

The next morning, there were some spontaneous demonstrations in Red Rock City, holding signs in front of the State Police Department with their various demands written on them.

Slogans such as "Punish corrupt police severely" and "Drive the rat out of the cat's team" were seen whenever someone passed by, especially someone in police uniform.

Their voices will become much louder, and everyone will hold up signs very excitedly.

In the morning, the director drove past here and saw the people marching and demonstrating, as well as the reporters who were interviewing them.

His emotions were stable throughout the whole process. After he talked with the deputy governor yesterday, the tone of this matter was basically set.

The evil corrupt police will be severely brought to justice, the governor who represents justice and righteousness will be praised by the people, and he will also be investigated and imprisoned for a period of time for using the wrong people and dereliction of duty.

Today is no different from any other day. The sun rises from the east and its light shines all over the world.

But today was a little different from the past, because his destiny, at this moment, deviated from what he once thought was the right path and came to a fork in the road.

He fought, but failed.

Since you can't change it, just accept it silently.

After parking the car, he did not immediately enter the police station office building. Instead, he stood in the parking lot and smoked a cigarette. Looking at this ordinary building that represented power, he felt a lot of emotion for a moment.

It doesn’t take much time to smoke a cigarette. After washing it, he threw the cigarette butt on the ground and strode towards the lobby on the first floor.

The moment he entered the first floor lobby, many police officers looked at him.

Some are puzzled, some are waiting for a response, and some are profound and difficult to describe.

He strode towards the elevator with an expressionless face. Only after he entered the elevator did the order in the lobby on the first floor return to normal.

As soon as I sat down in the office, the secretary was still reporting who called in the morning when the phone on the desk rang.

He picked up the phone casually and it was a call from the sheriff of a certain road police station.

The chief asked his secretary to leave first. He explained for a while on the phone and made sure that the matter would not implicate the sheriff who was still working hard for the safety of the people and occasionally making a little money for himself. Then the other party hung up the phone with a smile.

Then the phone rang again, it was very lively. If they didn't ask if they would be implicated, but instead showed some concern for themselves, the director would be happier.

He spent the morning dealing with these issues, and by mid-afternoon he had reassured most of the sheriffs that this was an isolated incident.

No matter who the new director is, there will be no other surprises and everything will be normal.

In the afternoon, Sheriff Matthew's police officers arrived in Red Rock City. As soon as they parked the car at the police station, some prosecutors who had been waiting there for a long time showed their credentials and arrested them on the spot.

They actually already knew this would be the outcome, so they didn't resist.

The most important thing now is to accelerate the "destruction" of this matter!
Yes, that's what the governor wanted, a speedy trial, a speedy trial, and a speedy conclusion to this case.

Only in this way can the public's attention be diverted from the issue of corrupt police and the impact of this incident be minimized.

After these corrupt policemen arrived at the prosecutor's office, they began to confess. They selected some of the things they could confess, such as that they would extort money and goods from passing trucks through extortion methods.

But they never mentioned the fact that they killed the driver, and this is the bottom line.

The prosecutors received instructions from the state attorney general and did not press for answers on these related matters. The governor has spoken, and the attorney general must obey the instructions.

The interrogation was very quick. The prosecutor's office divided into several groups, who interrogated the police officers while collecting "legal evidence". At the same time, they called on the "fugitive" Sheriff Matthew to surrender as soon as possible in the media.

Such explosive news did indeed immediately attract the attention of the entire state, but because it only went so far, it did not cause any bigger waves.

The next morning, all major media outlets began reporting on the incident. Some media outlets clearly had even more shocking information but did not release it.

There is actually a deeper political game and collusion of interests behind this, and News Corporation has gained some benefits from the governor.

The editor-in-chief handed over the materials he had personally kept to the people sent by the governor, and these cases will completely disappear in the long river of history.

Everything was just as the governor needed. It was just a case of a corrupt policeman. Although it was embarrassing, it was just embarrassing.

There are so many federal police officers, including so many corrupt ones, so it is normal for the state police to be corrupt!
Some time ago, the Golden State held several congressional meetings and a congressional hearing regarding the issue of police corruption, and the federal ruling group also discovered the problems here, which shows that this is not a problem unique to a certain place, but a universal problem!

It’s just that some places were well concealed, while some places, such as here in Indeno State, were exposed.

The public's discussion was heated, but it was within the scope of what the governor needed.

On the third day after the incident, Sheriff Matthew also took the initiative to appear outside the State Attorney's Office and surrendered himself.

At this point, the leader of the corrupt police has surrendered himself, and some speculations and rumors in society have lost their market.

With the governor's special permission, the media covered the case with "high transparency" throughout. Every step of the case, the evidence, testimony, and witnesses were fully consistent, ensuring that there was no possibility of false charges or wrongful convictions. This also exposed a corrupt police interest group headed by Sheriff Matthew.

Because the case progressed very smoothly and no one obstructed or disrupted the investigation and trial of the case, on December 5, half a month later, the case was sent to the state court for final trial.

Sheriff Matthew and his gang stood in the dock. After defense by their lawyers and fierce court debate, their sentences ultimately ranged from ten years to three years.

Needless to say, the person who was sentenced to ten years in prison was Sheriff Matthew. Some people might think that the sentence was too short, but what they have found out and confirmed so far are just extortion.

It is difficult to impose heavy sentences for these extortion crimes. Taking into account public opinion, social attention and social participation, Sheriff Matthew's ten-year sentence is a ten-year sentence with restrictions on commutation and parole.

In other words, other people may be released in 11 or 12 years of a 20-year sentence, but he can be released in 10 years without any problems. After the two-day trial, all the defendants expressed their acceptance of the court's decision and would not appeal.

After the media reported the result, people who paid attention to the matter expressed their appreciation and support for the state government.

Many people said they believed the governor was a qualified government official who was able to deal with these issues promptly and decisively, and did not try to shield anyone, even if they were law enforcement officers…

In the morning, the footsteps of the bailiff woke up Sheriff Matthew in the room. He stood up and watched several prison guards walk to the front of the cell. One of them was holding handcuffs, handcuffs and leg cuffs connected by a chain.

This kind of measure is usually used for serious criminals. Matthew shook his head. "Do we have to use this?"

He is no longer the sheriff, and these bailiffs will not take his feelings into consideration. After the trial results come out, he is just a criminal.

However, considering that they were colleagues in the same system but different work units in the past, they nodded and explained.

"Your sentence is ten years. According to the standard, you have to use this."

Matthew laughed twice. "I've worn it on others before, but never on myself. Is it comfortable to wear?"

The bailiff laughed a little at his question, "I haven't worn it, but it's definitely not that comfortable!"

Then they came in and put these things on Matthew, but it was obvious that they didn't really treat Matthew as an ordinary prisoner, at least not so tightly.

He could sense the disparity, said thank you twice, then followed them and slowly left the cell.

Outside the court, he saw his brothers.

It was more or less awkward at this point. He took a deep breath and waved his hand, which he couldn't lift. "Did you sleep well last night?"

Some of his men smiled. In fact, they had talked about this matter when they were together yesterday.

They didn't blame Matthew too much. After all, they had eaten, drank and had fun with him over the years, and they had saved a lot of money.

Matthew had mentioned to them before that they should consider a retreat plan, so each of them opened an anonymous account.

There is also a lot of money saved in these accounts.

Some deposited 10,000 or 20,000 yuan, some deposited 30,000 or 50,000 yuan, and some even deposited all the money they earned illegally!

These anonymous accounts will not be liquidated. In other words, after two or three years, or three to five years, they will still be rich.

The wealth they possess is still something that an ordinary family cannot obtain in one lifetime, let alone two or three lifetimes!
Although there is a high probability that there will never be such an opportunity to make money again in the future, at least they will not lose money.

The group got on the escort vehicle, and Matthew sighed, "This is the first time I sit in this as a prisoner."

The other men all laughed, and he wanted to create a relaxed atmosphere.

Because he knew that this was not the most difficult part, the most difficult part was still to come.

The prison is very cruel to police prisoners. Those prisoners will find trouble for them for no reason. No matter whether the prisoners they send to prison are in the same cell block with them or not, as long as those people know that they are police officers, they will be in big trouble.

There is no doubt that with such concentrated social coverage, there must be someone in the prison who knows about this, and those who may have been blackmailed by him will also find ways to pass on the news.

The most dangerous part of their prison journey is the initial stage, where they wonder how to gain a foothold and survive in prison.

In the escort vehicle, he talked with his men about what to do after entering.

"The prison guards are not from the same system as us, so they may not give us any help just because we were police officers before. Instead, they may make things difficult for us."

"So remember, after we go in, no matter what we encounter, don't resist, cooperate with them, even if they want to stab you in the ass!"

Although prison guards are also called "prison police" and are called "police", in fact, prison guards are under the management of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, while state police and local police are under the management of local governments. They are all police, but they are definitely not the same system.

The prison system is a very independent and closed environment. It is difficult to get help from them by relying on one's identity as a former police officer.

Matthew is not blindly optimistic. Instead, he is very cautious about this issue.

The others didn't know as much about prison as Matthew did, and they all listened very carefully because they would be spending the next period of time in prison.

"...We must unite and never back down when we encounter trouble. Even if you know you will be beaten, you must show your fierce side."

"Prison is a very primitive social environment. If you act like a bitch, everyone will patronize your ass!"

"But even if you are weak, as long as you are cruel and crazy enough, you can leave scars on them."

"When they want to provoke you, they should think about whether it is worth it!"

Matthew’s words made everyone feel heavy.

Matthew also realized this, and he quickly clapped his hands to attract their attention. "What I said are the worst things that could happen. On the other hand, let's think about it. With so many of us in prison at once, we are a considerable force in the prison."

"Whether we join a gang or remain neutral, it carries a lot of weight."

"So you don't have to worry too much. As long as we can unite, we can live well even in prison!"

Everyone quickly regained their confidence!

Next it was time for everyone to chat. They talked about some recent events. Matthew had already met his wife and children yesterday.

Although he was not sure why his eldest son did not show up, he would try to figure it out.

Although he already had some guesses in his mind, he would not do anything rash as long as his wife and other two children were still there.

It is about 300 kilometers from Hongshi City to the Indeno State Prison. The state prison is built on the Gobi Desert in the wilderness, surrounded by hundreds of kilometers of uninhabited areas.

This place is full of dangers, no matter what the season.

Although prisoners sometimes escaped from here, most of them died on the way to escape. Since its establishment, only less than five people have actually escaped.

This is actually considered a relatively qualified prison in the federal government. There are some worse prisons where more than a dozen people escape every year, and they are called the federal "prison shame."

As to whether he really escaped or was released in another form, no one knows.

After driving for a whole morning, the people in the car were already feeling a little tired.

For some reason, a rocking car is always the best hypnosis tool. Just like a cradle, it makes people's energy disappear very quickly.

There was only one car like this on the entire road.

At the beginning, there were still a lot of cars coming and going on the interstate highway, but when we got on the road to the prison, there was no one and the environment became quiet, with only shaky cars driving slowly.

They did not rush the driver, but hoped to stay a little longer in their final free environment.

Matthew couldn't bear it anymore and tilted his head and closed his eyes in his seat. He was mentally exhausted and anxious in the past few days and didn't get a good rest.

The bumpy car seat was like the cradle that my mother pushed when I was a child, and I fell asleep without realizing it.

He didn't know how long he slept, but he seemed to be awakened by some noise.

He subconsciously looked around and the escort vehicle suddenly stopped.

He looked towards the cab suddenly. There was no driver in the iron cage-like cab, and even the escorting bailiffs were gone.

When he turned around again, he saw more than ten vehicles surrounding the entire escort vehicle...

(End of this chapter)