The One That Didn’t Get Away
I was having a discussion last night with some fellow political types about the conviction of former City-County Councilman Lincoln Plowman. The consensus was that Plowman could have probably been found not guilty if he had not testified at his trial. By testifying, he was basically trying to counter the prosecutor’s best witness, himself.
The audio and video recordings of Plowman’s activities didn’t put him in the best of light, however, a jury apparently believed more of what he said on tape, rather than what he said live.
Ironically, there are a couple things that did take place behind the scenes that are worth mentioning. First, the government offered Plomwan a deal about a year and a half ago. They offered him two years and he would have been out in 18 months, but Plowman turned them down. Secondly, Plowman’s major mistake was that he was the one that took bait. Since the trial I’ve had conversations with quite a few folks from around town who were approached about “offers they couldn’t refuse” via acquaintances who had connections to out-of-town developers and businessmen. None of them took the bait, Plowman did.
The signs that this was a set up were as clear as day. The informant he used to catch other criminals was the main contact person. There was the fact that the developer never had any real listings anywhere. And most importantly, no one does business in a hotel room at night and gives you cash. If you can’t do business in an office in the middle of the day with attorneys and paperwork, then something is wrong.
Anyone paying attention would have seen this coming a mile away. Plowman wasn’t paying attention and now he’s going to prison.
