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This afternoon I had someone mentioned hearing John DeLoreans name in relation to someone associated with his drug case receiving a Presidental Pardon. I've never heard of this guy, but I'm also not well versed in all details of that case either. Did this guy play a big role in the case against John DeLorean?
https://www.google.com/amp/www.nbcne...?client=safari
Does it have a flux capacitor?
Does it run on 1.21 Giggawatts?
Have you been chased by terrorist?
No but I have been chased by ladies because it’s a chick magnet!
Location: Chicagoland area
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Stephen Arrington was a VIP Guest Speaker at DCS 2016. Stephen has promised to return to talk at future events.
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?12...S-2016)/page22
I was very happy Stephen accepted my invitation to attend DCS last year. DCS 2016 announcement listed below:
The DCS Planning Team is very pleased to announce another exciting VIP Guest Speaker for DCS 2016:
Stephen Arrington, the author of "In DeLorean's Shadow", is the sole surviving defendant from the DeLorean trial
and Stephen will be talking about his book and how his life was impacted by his involvement in the DeLorean trial.
The Press Release for Stephen's book follows:
This is a true-crime memoir about America’s greatest drug conspiracy. It involved the White House, the FBI, DEA,
CIA, IRS, DOJ, Interpol, #10 Downing Street, Pablo Escobar, Rafa; Escobar’s #1 hit man, and Max Mermelstein;
the #1 cocaine importer in the United States.
I have the original FBI Investigative Reports, the transcripts of their secret tapes, and know the things the jury
never heard because I am the last surviving defendant in that trial.
Follow Stephen Lee Arrington, Navy Vietnam vet, and bomb disposal frogman as he falls from the ranks of heroes
because of Marijuana. A trusted father figure manipulates him into the Medellin Drug Cartel. Under the threat of death,
he flies a plane from Colombia loaded with 650 lbs. of cocaine. In Los Angeles, he is arrested with John Z. DeLorean.
This is a whirlwind of adventure and criminal intrigue with smugglers, hit men, and violent inmates as an ex-naval hero
tries to rediscover himself. In prison, he becomes chief engineer of an inmate fire crew and leads the emergency response
to save the crew of the first B-1 bomber to crash. It went down six miles from Boron Prison Camp.
This is a book about hope as a childhood dream morphs into an ex-felon’s reality when two years out of prison, he becomes
chief diver and expedition leader for Captain Jacques Yves Cousteau. For over half of a decade, he goes on an underwater
odyssey of incredible adventures diving with whales, dolphins, and great white sharks.
More details about Stephen Arrington and his book can be found at the following links:
http://www.drugsbite.com
www.dreammachinefoundation.com
Originally Posted by Rhsxo
Location: Maple Grove, MN (Minneapolis)
Posts: 1,423
My VIN: 05457
Stephen ended up in the cell next to DeLorean the day John was arrested. Also, it was the cocaine he was carrying when he got arrested that was used in the sting operation with DeLorean.
Stephen spoke at DCS last year, so most of us that went got to hear his story at least once. Pretty interesting life he's had.
Edit: Rich beat me to it, and with a much more helpful post at that!
David Proehl
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,582
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Steve Arrington played a very minor role in JZD's case. He smuggled the drugs that were used in the case against JZD so, yes, he was tangentially involved in the case. He led a very interesting life. I recommend buying and reading his book, "In Delorean's Shadow". We also had him as a guest speaker for the DMA. IMHO he did the crime, admitted to it, went to jail and paid his price to society. While he never implicated anyone else and was remorseful, he is a convicted drug runner. Not a little bit either. It was a large quantity. Does he deserve a pardon, I don't think so. All of the pardons given out like door prizes diminishes all of the effort to stop drugs and crime. What would you think if a member of your family died from an overdose of the poison he smuggled? Pardons and clemency should be reserved for those wrongly convicted or incarcerated excessively for minor crimes.
David Teitelbaum
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 2,503
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His being pardoned doesn't affect me. The effectiveness of deterring crime, let alone rehabilitation versus profiteering with the American penal system is a whole other argument. My only opinion/objection about it is what I've already posted in the other thread: If the prosecuting attorney felt so bad for his convention that they wrote letters to advocate on his behalf to have him pardoned, why in the world did they even bother proceeding with the trial and convicting him in the first place?
Robert
People they come together, people they fall apart...
Posts: 990
Because the Assistant US Attorney gets its direction from managers who get their direction from the appointed U.S. Attorney who gets her direction from DOJ. A prosecutor as a person can have a different opinion but in the courtroom, he represents the country and prosecutes the case to the best of his ability, just as the other side mounts a vigorous defense.
Location: Las Vegas
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Which makes sense in as how the system operates (which is why I didn't call out the sentencing judge whose hand was obviously forced), but shows yet another glaring failure in our judicial system. But hey, the International Law Commission said it best in 1951:
"The fact that a person acted pursuant to order of his Government or of a superior does not relieve him from responsibility under international law, provided a moral choice was in fact possible to him."
But getting back to the subject of the thread, Arrington did indeed play a very small role in the whole scheme of things. Other than the fact that the drugs he brought were used in the simultaneous sting operation against JZD, there really isn't any connection between the two that I'm aware of.
Robert
People they come together, people they fall apart...
Posts: 990
People who are philosophically opposed to performing their duties should resign their posts, but as ancient philosopher Paulus McCartneyus once said, "If you got a job to do, you got to do it well."
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 2,503
My VIN: 6585
Although this is more a question of basic, nondenominational morality, I couldn't agree with you more. But when enough people refuse to participate in a system by refusing to execute their duties, that should be a sign that there is a problem that needs to be examined.
Sadly, most people don't get to hear those philosophical words and poetry of late much anymore given that they were including on the post 9/11 soft-censorship music list that dropped them out of their rotations.
Robert
People they come together, people they fall apart...
Location: Northern NJ
Posts: 8,582
My VIN: 10757 1st place Concourse 1998
While his crime was tangentially related to JZD's case, their lawyers worked hand-in-hand. Mr Arryington's defense was intimately entwined with JZD's and as such Mr. Arrington wound up with all of the documents related to his and JZD's defense. He had only a couple of brief contacts with JZD where they basically exchanged greetings. If you look at the entirety of the case, all of the "big" players walked or had reduced sentences. Mr. Arrington was the only one who served hard time. They always come down hard on the "little people". In Mr. Arrington's case mainly because he would not cooperate and testify against anyone to lighten his sentence. In that respect he was a "stand up" guy and took what he believed to be a fair punishment for his crime. As for the prosecutor recommending leniency, that was after he vigorously prosecuted him for his crime. After seeing how Mr. Arryington turned his life around while incarcerated, the prosecutor felt he was deserving of a second chance. His recommendation had nothing to do with how the prosecutor felt during the case so I see no conflict.
David Teitelbaum
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