[vetvetdoug]

This incident is the status quo for Mississippi politicians and corruption. After Marty Frankel embezzled $3 Billion from the Mississippi insurance companies and let Thurston Little, Travis Little's brother, launder several of the millions, you have heard nary a peep. Thurston is free, the money has been gone and rolled over dozens of times, his family is continuing to profit from the money and nothing has been done. Its only been seven years since the story surfaced. Unless someone else (meaning federal or another state) gets Ebbers, Little, Frankel, Diaz and Minor, this will be a lot of noise without any punishment.

[Gurn]

BTW, the two lawyers identified by initials in the indictment are plaintiff's attorneys from Vicksburg. Though they're trial lawyers, they're not scumbags. I used to work with one of their sons, also an attorney.

It was one or more of these trial lawyers who reported the attempted bribe/extortion to the US Attorney's office. Point being, I guess, that not all of them are complete dirtbags.

Incidentally, this indictment tells me a couple of things. First, it's significant that the allegations were credible enough to postpone a March 1 trial date.

Also, lawyer friends and I had been speculating about which of the defendants would be the first to roll over. Minor is the big fish here. That leaves the two former judges from the coast, Diaz, and his ex-wife to cop pleas.

Now, the feds may think they have enough on Minor to where they don't need the testimony of any of his co-defendants to put him away. As such, there may be no plea bargains to be had for the other four. That train, as they say, may have left the station.

[FormerACLUmember]

The exploitative Mississippi shyster industry, its crooked judges, and complete legal system corruption on every level makes John Grisham novels look tame.

The incredibly wealthy lawyer elite also make Mississippi the poorest, most third world-like of all US states.