PHIL NARDUCCI WILL ACCEPT PLEA DEAL, BUT HERE IS THE TRUTH.

For those who have been following the Philip Narducci stuff out of Philadelphia, I have been saying all along that Philip didn't commit a crime.  Even with the news coming out that Philip is set to take a plea agreement May 14, in court, I still stand by my earlier statements and radio shows.   Phil has done nothing wrong.  Where that sort of gets lost in translations for a lot of people is the following:

"How can a guy who did nothing wrong accept a deal, admitting guilt, for something he has said he hasn't done."  It's a fair question to ask, it really is, however it's not as black and white as you might believe.  The first thing we have to do, is assertain the facts.   The facts in this entire indictment against Narducci have been laughable since the beginning.  I have been long winded since January about this case.  Many reporters jumped on the bandwagon, making wild claims, when the fact is, from day one, the case against Philip Narducci was seriously flawed.

So what's the brass tax?  The brass tax is that Philip is going to accept a plea deal, to serve one year and one day, and when you combine that with house confinement, and the fact that federal guidlines call for 85% of your time to be served, Philip is really looking at 6-7 months total time.  Whether or not his attorney is able to swing that down to house arrest or a halfway house remains to be seen, but the fact is sometimes guys have to take a pinch for all the wrong reasons.

If we look at the case of Sonny Franzese, he was convicted for a robbery he didn't commit, and in fact he has alleged that he refused to utter a word about another investigation and anyone else, so the government used this to hammer him.  It's a charge he has denied for decades.  Sometimes the pinch one has to take, is the lesser of two evils.

If we look at the Joey Merlino trial, he essentially plead guilty to gambling, which is a bullshit charge, which penalized him for two years.  He had a decision to make at the end of his mistrial.  He could refuse to plead out, and risk going to prison for 20 plus years on charges that were absurd.   In his case in particular, the informant in that case JR RUBEO was a really the worst example of a government witness I have seen until the Narducci indictment.  In Joey's case, he could roll the dice, force a retrial, but he really was risking a heavy amount of time if the jury didn't swing his way.  Left to that decision I don't know many people who would take that risk. 

You have to understand you are allowing the Government, who has a blank check, who can retry you time and time and time again, who can get certain aspects of facts and evidence witheld from a jury at the judges descretion, it's really lopsided from the second you get indicted.   Joey made the right choice. 

In Philips case, once again, the informant in this partifcular case was absolutely guilty of a lot of things himself, and if this had gone to trial, I still think Philip would have been aquitted based on the evidence I heard and saw.   The government had a softball case, was leaping at best, and when everything about this informant began to peek out publicly via the press, myself, and journalists, it really made the case embarrasing on multiple levels.  Philip has done a ton of time in his life, has come out and established himself as an successful businessman, someone who works hard every day of his life, someone who donates to charity, and someone who has turned his life around.  While his particular case was beatable on many many levels, once again, if certain evidence gets squashed, if facts are buried out of the governments assertions at protecting what they call an asset, then at what point does Phil roll the dice?

You try spending 30 years in prison, to get indicted over bullshit charges, face another 40 year sentence over garbage, full well knowing certain aspects of the case, which should come to light, can be squashed for the sake of an asset, and your looking at a huge risk.  While I firmly believe Philip did NOTHING wrong, and I firmly believe that he would have won his case as trial, Philip also had to look at the bigger picture here.   

The government doesn't do anyone favors.  They don't offer a plea if they think there case is a slam dunk, open and shut.  They never have and they never will.  So while Philip did NOTHING wrong, at the end of the day your tossing your hope and beliefs into 12 jurors, who are going to hear all kinds of things from your past, they are going to hear assertions made on media beliefs, and they may not get to hear the cold hard facts of the case, especially when the informant in this case is considered a valuable asset.  The fact is, this asset was a joke, lied throughout the investigation, and there are facts about this case which I presented months ago, which prove, without a doubt, that Philip had nothing to do with this garbage the feds spoon fed themselves and the justice department.  

People who are NOT in that situation can bicker, and make excuses all day for what they would do. Until your back is up against the wall you really can't understand it.  Sure, it's easy enough to say "if I didn't do shit, I woudn't cop to shit."  Everyone at some point in their life has taken credit for something they've done and not done, it's basic instinct, it's survival.   I don't think many of the people laying weird claims have any bearing on how powerful the government is.  They have a blank check.  They can use law to their advantage, rico laws to their advantage, and the while I have some hope that the justice system is a fair system, the more I attend trials, and the more I look into cases, the more you see how unbalanced the system is and has become.  

Some can say I'm a mouthpeice jaded by friendships or associations, but that's not the case.  If someone I knew, or met, or was associated with did what the feds alleged, I would be the first to tell you, I believe they likely did it.  I don't owe anyone any excuses here, this is not my life.  I defend my friends, I will always defend my friends.  It's a loyalty thing most people can never understand.  Being a stand up guy means you are willing to keep quiet and take a pinch before you ever utter a word to indict anyone your friends with, and you don't indict yourself under any circumstances.  You keep quiet, and say nothing.  Let the feds, let the cops do what they do.  Normal people don't understand this.  They sit at home at watch Goodfellas or The Sopranos and think they have a grip on it.  You don't.  It's not something you can manufacture.  Your born with it, raised with that principle, and not everyone accused is gulity, and not everyone who accepts a plea did something wrong.  The lesser of two evils sometimes is accepting things you don't like, because the reverse of that is much more dangerous.

I took a pinch, I plead gulity.  Did I do all they say I did?  No.  Did I do some of it, ABSOLUTELY.  Was I charged with shit I did? That and more.  I was charged because I refused to tell.  I refused to talk, so they charged me with everything.  Guilt by association.  In my case, taking a plea, was better then 10 years.  I don't know many people who'd say, "Nah, I'll take the ten years," especially when three people who were my codefendants became  state witnesses.  They were going to testify against me.  I might have been able to beat the case 1 vs 1, but not 4 on 1.  So, in the end, every case is different, every man or woman must make the most logical decisions.    So that's my point, sometimes people have to take it on the chin because the odds while maybe in your favor, the government can come at you time and time and time again.  Sometimes the lesser evil, is just taking it.

In final, Philip is a good guy.  He's friendly, honest, warm, caring, and he's the type of guy the majority of you would let watch your kids, or dogs.  He's not the maniac the newspapers want you to buy, he's not the big tough goon journalists keep telling you he is.  Philip fit a narrative because he became successful after spending half his life away.  If you don't believe me, look at some of the cases where these guys get out become a success, and the feds bee line for them. Furthering that, look at all the witness protection fucks who testify, come out and break laws non stop and the FBI does nothing.  In rare cases do they bring up charges.  It's very rare.  So whose really the miscreant in this situation?  They'd rather lock up a good guy on bullshit charges on the words of a known terrorist, then to back up an American citizen because they "think he did something."  God forbid you make a life for yourself after paying your dues.  While I may not like Philip having to do any time, because my belief in him, is paramount, it is what is is.  People should try thinking about that before they screech about "well I would this and that."  The fact is, you can say whatever you want, and until your faced with it, you cannot say what you'd do.