A Leap of a Coward

It has been quite apparent for some time now that there is a multi-tiered justice system in America. One for the elites, celebrities, very rich, and then there is the rest of us. In the category of the very rich, Ed Mattar leapt to his death after smashing out his window on the 27^th floor of one of Denver’s few “tall” buildings (link). A result that was far too easy. And, for those who waited for justice, his conviction, his sentencing for nearly ten years, a bitter taste is left in their mouths.

Anyway, I keep thinking that if I click my heels together long enough that everything will be equitable, that the America Justice is blind, that somehow a criminal, a deadbeat, a pariah of the people, can and will be sentenced and serve their time. In many case of white collar crime, this is not the case. I look at recent events from Ken Lay to Ed Mattar they simply fall off the grid and no longer heard about again. This was the case of Ed Mattar, his story dates back to the late part of 1990’s (well, earlier than that but for brevity sake), when it was initially that he had cooked the books of BestBank in Boulder, Colorado, but he was notcharged until 2003. The FDIC (Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation) had to bail out the depositors to the tune of 200 million dollars, yet some depositors lost another 27 million dollars of their monies.

The travesty of this case was his ability to delay justice. To pay himself nearly nine million dollars in bonuses and live off the assets of depositors, and then, as he is facing sentencing, cheat his victims seeing him behind bars by leaping to his death as his cowardice met the concrete. Most of Ed Mattar life was about avoiding responsibility and being accountable for his actions, once again he showed his true colors. Unfortunately, the red soaked stain that he left on concrete does not show the yellow streak that ran within him.