Chapter 11 - The Turncoat’s Price
The courtroom erupted into pandemonium. Reporters gasped, whispering frantically into their voice recorders, while Sterling’s defense team scrambled, whispering furiously amongst themselves.
"Silence!" the bailiff roared, slamming his baton against the railing. "Order in the court!"
I waited until the room fell dead silent before speaking again. "Claire Vance, facing seven years at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility, entered into a full cooperation agreement with the federal government yesterday evening. In exchange for prosecutorial leniency, she provided complete digital ledgers, encrypted communication threads, and bank routing authorizations."
I leaned forward, fixing my eyes upon Arthur Sterling, whose aristocratic face had turned the color of chalk.
"Those records demonstrate, without ambiguity, that Mr. Sterling deliberately targeted my private trust fund, forging my signature and utilizing Claire’s administrative access to launder municipal kickbacks through sham corporate accounts. More critically, those records contain an audio recording—delivered to the United States Marshal Service at midnight—wherein Mr. Sterling explicitly instructs Claire on how to harass, defame, and financially cripple me so that I would not notice the eight million dollars funneled through Brandon’s educational sub-accounts."
Richard Vance-Caldwell was sweating profusely now. "Your Honor... this is... we were not provided notice of these materials—"
"Because they were unsealed less than an hour ago by the Federal Magistrate, Counsel," I retorted crisply. "Furthermore, the jurisdictional transfer you requested is moot. By order of the Chief Administrative Judge and the Federal District Court, this court has been designated to sit in concurrent capacity for the evidentiary hearing."
I struck the gavel once. The sound cracked through the hall like a gunshot.
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"Your motion for recusal is DENIED on the merits. There is no conflict; there is only evidence of criminal enterprise attempting to weaponize this bench. Now, Counsel, call your first witness, or sit down and allow the People to present their application for total asset freeze."
Sterling slowly turned toward his lead attorney, his knuckles whitening against the edge of the mahogany table. The predator had walked into his own cage, and the door had just locked behind him.
