Have you ever stuffed yourself to the gills on thanksgiving day....knowing the whole time how great that food taste? But immediately after you get done eating your like "man i shouldn't have done that" or have you ever done anything ethically wrong and immediately after said to yourself "man i shouldn't have done that".....well when those cuffs were around my hands, i didn't feel like that....I felt like i was doing the right thing...
Me and eric was offered more than $2000 for those cues several times, but from the moment we found out that they were stolen we tryed to find out who they were stolen from, and we didn't sell them because we didn't want to do to them what was done to us. we did a google search for stolen chris nitti cues and stolen mike bender cues, and through the help of the AZ forums....thats how we came in contact with the gentlemen we were to meet in michigan.
When we obtained the cues, we had absolutely no idea that they were stolen. All i knew was i had $2500 invested in them and i was flat broke. But when i contacted this gentlemen he did offer a $500 reward and i told him the whole story of what happened, i told him i had $2500 invested in these cues and i would take a $500 dummy loss for ending up with them and take $2000, knowing that the cues were worth alot more. He acted like this would not be a problem, he said he had to get a couple checks cashed but it shouldn't be a problem. Make no mistake about it, regardless of whether i got paid for these cues....i was going to give them back to him, because they were worthless to me.
I am not a thief or a felon, i am a pool player....The march issue was over a suspended liscense...I have never been convicted of any crimes because i have not been involved in any. I don't consider myself your typical pool player, i don't drink or do any drugs, i don't even smoke cigarettes. i believe in God, Morals, Heaven and Hell..
So cornerstone, I didn't know i was getting stolen property, i didn't think from our conversations we were extorting you....I thought we were negotiating a deal to where you recovered your cues for a fair price and i was recovering some of my losses as well. I don't regret calling you, because my eyes have been opened, i am a better person today than i was a week ago for just being in that cell with 15 other guys and hearing their stories...I found out just how lucky I am to have a family that loves me and will do anything for me. Alot of those guys didn't have loved ones to call and help them out...but i was one of the lucky ones...One of the guys in that cell was all tatted up and him and his buddies were looking at 20 years or so and on his back it red "Only God can judge me" That statement is oh so true and going forward that is my motto.
Me and you both lost in this deal cornerstone and i apologize if i offended you.
Oh Robert that is just NOT going to work. I get that "Only God" deal, I really do, but let me tell you, you are about to get judged here, by a judge, and although your story might work real good for your conscience, and for your loved ones, it is just flat not going to fly with the judge. The part about you not being a thief and a felon, that's about to change real quick. As far as self-image goes, all those guys sitting in that cell with you can explain how they are innocent or how their actions were justified.
Please forget seeing yourself as the victim here, your judge will not buy it. Here's his perspective:
Bill bought, paid, for and stored some cues that were his property on his property. He owns those cues.
That property was stolen from Bill in a break and entry by criminals.
You knew Bill owned that property when you contacted him.
You attempted to extort funds from Bill in order for the return of his legally owned property.
You got caught by police red handed with Bills property in your possession looking to make an extortion exchange.
You can tell that judge he can't judge you all you want, but he's going to, and punish you.
If you want to get ahead of this thing you best get proactive quick, and making excuses for your behavior in order to mitigate how it feels for your self-image won't work. That turkey dinner feeling is some discomfort for a couple of hours, this deal will haunt you your entire life.
I don't know if this is a situation where the system will even allow Bill to "drop the charges" but man, I would be ALL OVER that aspect, were it me. Bill is a man that attempts to run his life by Christian principles and I'd be looking, begging, him for some Christian charity. And, before I did, I'd be dropping the justifications and be moving on to some great big "I'm sorry"s.
But that's just me.
Good luck to you
Kevin
