Chapter 20 - LINDA IS SENTENCED
Linda was sixty-three by sentencing.
No prior record.
Significant role.
Not leader of Meridian.
Active participant in false ownership disclosures.
Active participant in my capacity file.
Witness to abuse.
Facilitator.
The judge considered all.
Her attorney described:
A mother protecting son.
A grandmother frightened of losing family company.
A woman manipulated by Ryan.
Some true emotionally.
Linda still made choices.
I spoke briefly.
“She watched him hurt me.”
Her eyes closed.
“She did not strike me herself.”
Accuracy.
“She did something different. She turned what she saw into paperwork saying I was the problem.”
I paused.
“She picked up medication in my name because a medical record looked useful.”
Then:
“She told herself she was protecting Ryan. Protection that requires another person to be disbelieved is not protection.”
Linda received a custodial federal sentence shorter than Ryan’s.
Restitution.
Supervised release.
Financial restrictions.
No fiduciary role.
Separate state consequences integrated where possible.
No life sentence.
No dramatic collapse.
May you like
She would eventually come home.
That mattered because Rebecca might someday ask.
