CONFESSIONS OF A
MONEY LAUNDERER by Kenneth Rijock
Financial Crime Consultant, for World-Check
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 40
21 October 2007

As the time drew near for me to journey to the Federal Prison Camp at Eglin Air Force Base in northwest Florida, where I had been ordered to report to begin serving my four-year sentence, the little things in life, which I would not be enjoying for a long time, were especially dear. Such mundane domestic things as walking the dog, or taking my small son to the park were appreciated, for when I returned from confinement, years later, everything would be different. As I had felt the same exact way during my leave prior to being shipped out to Vietnam twenty years before, I was somewhat on familiar ground. The only thing one can do is to cut one's hair short, and prepare mentally for one of life's more difficult experiences. After all, many of the clients had already done this, and it was now my turn.

Having served in the military during my youth, and understanding quite a bit about our correctional institutions, from my many visits as defence counsel, I knew what was in store for me:

  • Bad food, served up by unenthusiastic chefs themselves doing time. Although Federal institutions do serve better fare than the bedrock, minimal grub dished out at state prisons, and county jails, there isn't much to recommend it.

  • Spartan, minimal accommodations, and with zero privacy. The only truly private rooms in prison are in maximum security, or punishment isolation cells.

  • Being in close quarters with a number of difficult people whom I wouldn't be caught dead with (pardon the pun) on the outside.

  • Pre-dawn wake-up calls, and very early bedtimes, all over-supervised by a bunch of surly guards themselves not happy to be there.
 
  • Some manual labor job, usually and predictably of a brutally monotonous nature. Federal work camps, which are for minimal security prisoners, justify their existence by providing work crews for military installations, or for some other place where they need warm bodies to perform some blue-collar tasks.

  • Social companions whose dismay at their confinement would be manifested in them taking out their anger on whatever, or whomever they had contact with. These range from the obnoxious individuals, to the flat-out downright mean types whom you do not want to interact with. I would be dealing  with a large number of unhappy people who were used to doing whatever they pleased,  whom had never been in the military, and probably had never lived in another part of the US.

Oddly enough, I would be seeing plenty of my clients and people I knew there, for over the years a large  number of my money laundering clients, and drug traffickers & dealers that I knew, went away on narcotics charges. Some were actually friends from my early days as a lawyer; others more recent. Remember, I had been practising law for seventeen years when I went away. That is time to see a long list of criminal defendants sentenced, or hear about what happened to them through the grapevine.

When I was getting ready to go to Vietnam, my mother sent me to the veterinarian to euthenise my aged dog & cat, and I went through this experience again with an older pet owned by my wife. It was no less painful the second time, notwithstanding all my experiences in the two decades since the first trip. Death still has a certain finality that affects one in a very personal way.

I guess the most difficult thing was leaving my small son, because I knew things would be totally different when I came back. Life moves on, whether you are there or not.

At work, I was really only going through the motions, closing out all the files, and ensuring that all client files went into storage, in the event they were needed in the future. Active business was referred out, though I must confess my enthusiasm for my work was less than eager.

With a clean slate, work-wise, it was time to close up the office, move thew last of the files to an attorney friend, and make travel plans.

Next week: One door closes.

The facts and opinions stated in this article are those of the author and not those of World-Check. World-Check does not warrant the accuracy of any facts and opinions stated in this article, does not endorse them, and accepts no responsibility for them.

Read more in this exciting series

Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 97
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 96
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 95
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 94
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 93
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 92
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 91
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part Ninety
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 89
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 88
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 87
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 86
New chapter out Tonight
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 85
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 84
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 83
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 82
Confessions is on holiday until 5 January, but read earlier chapters here
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 81
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 80
Confession of a Money Launderer - Part 79
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 78
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 77
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 76
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 75
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 74
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 73
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 72
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 71
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 70
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 69
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 68
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 67
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 66
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 65
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 64
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 63
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 62
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 61
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 60
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 59
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 58
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 57
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 56
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 55
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 54
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 53
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 52
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 51
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 50
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 49
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 48
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 47
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 46
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 45
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 44
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 43
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 42
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 41
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 40
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 39
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 38
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 37
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 36
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 35
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 34
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 33
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 32
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 31
Confessions of a Money launderer - Part 30
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 29
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 28
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 27
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 26
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 25
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 24
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 23
Confessions of a Money Launderer - part 22
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 21
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 20
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 19
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 18
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 17
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 16
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 15
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 14
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 13
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 12
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 11
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 10
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 9
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 8
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 7
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 6
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 5
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 4
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 3
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 2
Confessions of a Money Launderer - Part 1
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