Sentencing

Sarah was late to the startup, added after a few weeks where they didn't have a CFO. She'd wished from about halfway through her first day that she'd passed on the job.

Once she got the books open, it was easy to see that the consulting startup that was being run by a few of her friends from university was nothing more than a Ponzi scheme. They'd taken a loan to start the business. They'd managed to get a few clients early and used that money to pay their loan. A few more clients, the same cycle. Their finances were in dire straits and they weren't making any money.

Three months after Sarah took the job, they were raided by the SEC. Someone they'd seeked to act as an investor had filed an anonymous complaint about their practices after a meeting with her friend Harper, who was the CEO. Harper had let it accidentally slip that they were sort of desperate for investors as their cash flow had stopped and they had outstanding loans. That had been the exact wrong thing to say and within a week of the meeting, Sarah had been pinned to the floor by a large man with a gun while another went through her purse.

She was sitting on a steel chair behind a folding table in a dark room now. The wall opposite didn't have the standard giant double glass but rather just a wall. They'd loaded them all into separate SUV's after the raid, Sarah had been put in handcuffs and led out first while Harper and her boyfriend Barrett were still inside. Barrett had tried to fight during the raid and wound up getting shot in the leg! Sarah hadn't ever heard such a loud noise in all of her life when the single shot was fired and even still now, her ears were ringing.

She'd been driven outside the city to a large house at the end of a quiet neighborhood and they'd pulled into the garage before pulling her from the car. She felt slight unease at her surroundings, trying to remind herself that because of the nature of the crimes and the raid that they might not display their badges but why the regular house? Why not an office?

She had no idea how long she waited but she wasn't joined by Harper or Barrett. The house was quiet but for muffled footsteps on the hardwood floors outside and the occasional clicking of keyboards. After what felt like hours, she was joined in the room by a tall, bespectacled man who smiled at her as he sat in the chair opposite her. He placed a file on the table and opened it.

Sarah saw that it had her name on it and was full of information. He'd shown her secret photos of her meeting with some of their clients, digitally signed bank statements showing her moving money into different accounts, and some of her more extravagant purchases for herself, including the new BMW she'd paid for with cash. "I just took this job a couple of weeks ago!" Sarah protested, "I didn't have much to do with any of it! I don't have a BMW!" She felt her eyes sting with tears, some already falling.

"You've been on the job for three months, Ms. Phelps," the man said quietly, "please understand that we have all of the information needed in this file."

"So, what happens now?" Sarah asked, "do I, like, get to talk to a lawyer or something?"

"Oh goodness you kids and your movies," he shook his head with his eyebrows raised. Sarah didn't understand but he went on. "You and your friends are well and truly fucked, sweetie." Sarah didn't like how that sounded.

"What do-"

"You and Ms. Clement were running quite a Ponzi scheme very unsuccessfully. We have almost eight months of transactions, details, notes, everything. The idiot who tried to fight during the raid added a few more federal charges to his sheet so he's looking at a few decades. The CEO, Ms. Clement," he paused and glanced down, "Harper, is looking at several heavy charges herself. You're looking at several decades' worth of charges-" Sarah interrupted with panic in her voice.

"I only had the job for three months! What was I supposed to do?" If she thought her outburst would change his quiet, matter-of-fact tone, she was wrong. He looked at her as though contemplating her and her outburst and what she'd said. When he spoke, it was very deliberate.

"When you took the job and opened the books and saw what the state of affairs was, did you think about blowing the whistle on the company?" She wasn't sure if she should answer, she just looked at him before he raised his eyebrows as though expecting an answer. She shook her head. "Right. What a decent person would do in that situation is work to fix it. She might have reported it anonymously or maybe tried to find someone who would be able to help with it. Not doing anything makes you just as complicit. You allowed it to keep going. You let it go for three months and you ripped off some pretty powerful and rich people."

"I was-"

But he shook his head to forestall Sarah's heated reply. "Look, I can't spell it out for you any clearer than that. You failed to act, made more of these transactions, some of them against very powerful people, and you got caught in the CFO's office still signed into the computer. No lawyer would even take your case."

There was silence between them for a few minutes as Sarah took this in. There was a finality to the tone of his voice. "So what happens to me and Harper? Where is Harper?"

"She's in another facility on the other side of town." Sarah heard the word facility and felt her skin start to prickle. "Likely receiving the same speech that you're receiving now so that you understand your options."

"I have options?" Sarah said with a tone of surprise.

"Sure," he gave a half-shrug, "if you want to call them that. Option one is pretty simple. We'll transfer you to a federal prison and you'll remain there until your trial. You'll receive the trial that you already know the outcome to," Sarah felt herself wilting, "while your face is plastered all over every magazine in the country as the 22 year old CFO who ripped off billionaires. You live in a jail cell the size of an elevator for about 50 years and get out just in time to see all of your friends die from old age."

Sarah lowered her head and began to cry. He let her do so for a few minutes. Her crying was more out of the sheer magnitude of the problem that she was facing and the man knew it. It happened a lot. He went on. "Option two is that you agree to have your sentence be something beyond federal prison." Sarah felt like she hadn't heard him correctly. She glanced up and he was looking at her. "You heard me correctly. A very progressive judge has decided that white collar crimes in our state might be punishable in other ways than jail." Sarah didn't know what to say.

"What's the catch?"

"Beg your pardon?" he responded.

"Like, what stops someone from killing me or something?"

"Murder charges, I suppose," he looked dumbfounded for a moment before he shrugged, "this is a new policy so I would imagine that would be frowned upon." Sarah considered her options.

"If I select option two, do I still go to jail?"

"No. However," he interrupted when Sarah's face began to light up, "failure to pay restitution will result in immediate forfeiture of any privileges and you will, as the kids say, go directly to jail." Sarah blinked. It sounded like she might just have to pay some money back to some billionaire and be able to go free! "Am I to understand that you're interested in taking option two?"

"Yes," she said with a nod. He pulled his phone out and dialed a number.

"She's agreed to take option two," he said to someone. "Hold on," he put the phone on speaker and set it on the table in front of her. "Say your full name, age and confirm that you're selecting option two."

"Sarah Grace Phelps, 22 years old, I am selecting option two," she said clearly, thinking of possibly seeing her parents again soon and explaining this to them. He took the phone back and confirmed that her vocal confirmation had been accepted. He took out a few pieces of paper that were stapled together and pointed a pen at a line at the bottom of the page, indicating that she should sign. She did.

"Very good," he said to the mystery person on the other end of the phone, "oh, you're a few minutes out? That's wonderful, see you soon!" He hung up. Sarah felt herself get nervous.

"He's coming here?"

"She's coming here," he corrected, putting the papers back into the folder. "She'll be here in a few minutes. It would appear that your friend Harper accepted her deal as well. If that's the case, you may be reunited soon."

"Do you know what she has planned for me?" Sarah asked as he stood up and slid the folder underneath his arm.

"No idea," he said in a tone that suggested to her that he couldn't care less. A moment later he was gone and she was alone in the room. Nervousness crept through her body. This was a new policy, she wondered how many people had agreed to this punishment yet. What if the policy changed? Would she go to jail then? What if a billionaire wanted some kind of creepy thing like sex or something? Could she refuse and be assigned another billionaire?

Worry now stabbed at her. She'd agreed to this option very quickly, too quickly to think it through. And what had he meant about her not being able to talk to a lawyer? Minutes ticked by. Sarah still had no idea what time it was. It sounded like there were still people milling around outside the room, but on the other hand, it sounded like it was deserted. Just as she was about to get up and see what would happen if she went outside the room, the knob turned and it opened.

A tall woman entered, finding Sarah in the room and beaming with a smile. She was blonde and Sarah guessed she was around 40. "You're the CFO, right?" Sarah nodded. "Oh good! Sarah! I love that name, always have," she trilled as she sat down in the same seat as the man had sat. "So," she said, setting her purse down, "I hear that you're selecting option two and are interested in an alternative punishment rather than, well, the regular one that most people receive." Sarah nodded. The woman went on with a smile, "so sorry sweetie, but please respond when I ask you a question, no nodding!"

"C-correct," Sarah said, eyebrows furrowed. It seemed like such an insignificant thing to bring up, an odd power trip to have. The woman however, smiled.

"That's wonderful news," the woman said, "I'm sure you've been wondering what the punishment might be since you agreed to it?"

"Yeah," Sarah allowed, her heart racing, "and I was also wondering why that man wouldn't let me talk to a lawyer."

"Lawyers are unnecessary at this point," the woman began, her smile fading a little, "this is a very unique situation and all they would do is add paperwork."

"Yeah but I thought I was allowed a lawyer to represent me in court. It's only fair."

The woman surveyed her, her eyebrows raised and her face set. Her words made fear stab at Sarah again. "This isn't a matter of being fair, sweetie." There was an edge to her voice that hadn't been there a moment ago. "You broke the law and took the option to avoid jail as a punishment. We're changing what's fair. All a lawyer would do for you right now is look at those papers you signed and hear your voice confirming that you were taking option two and he'd be halfway out the door." Sarah felt her skin start to prickle in goosebumps. Why hadn't she asked more questions? Why had she signed that paper without reading it? "Now, do you still want to see a lawyer?"

Sarah froze and didn't know what to say. She did, but from the way this woman was talking, the paperwork she'd signed was legally binding more than anything she could possibly do. The woman repeated her question.

"N-n-no I don't think so," Sarah heard herself answer. She did but felt that nothing could possibly be worse than federal prison.

"Good girl!" The woman beamed at her. She pulled something out of her purse. Sarah recognized her phone case with the little pink and white hearts. "We know that you communicate with your sister Laura as a conduit to the rest of your family and that you talk to her every day or so. I'd like you to send a text to her that you and your friend Harper are taking a quick business trip and will be unreachable for a few days because of international calling." Sarah felt her stomach start to churn. They knew an awful lot about her. "And then sign it with your little pickle emoji that you two use, which I think is adorable!"

"Am I leaving the country?" Sarah asked quietly, "I want to know what my punishment is, honestly, because I'm having second thoughts about this. I don't feel comfortable because I didn't read any of that paperwork that the man put in front of me, he didn't tell me how legally binding any of it is or anything and he refused to tell me who he is, who you are," she was rambling now, "and now you're telling me to contact my family and basically let them know I'm going to be unreachable. That's scary how much you know about me!" The woman didn't react to this, only when she saw Sarah's eyes well up with tears, "I don't feel comfortable with any of this!" The woman nodded and placed a hand on Sarah's handcuffed ones.

"I know it's scary," she said, "I was in your seat you know," Sarah's eyes met hers and she nodded. "My boyfriend Rob and I ran a fake ID ring in college. Just the two of us, his sister Alyssa, and a laminating machine. We were millionaires when they finally got us," she nodded with a small sense of self-satisfaction. "My sister-in-law-to-be and I were the first two people who selected option two, a few months after it was initiated. Rob didn't." Sarah recognized the "to-be" and wondered what happened.

The woman went on, "well, Rob told them to go fuck themselves, he'd go to court. They threw the book at him, all sorts of identity theft charges, plus a few of the girls who we sold to were underage and used our ID's to get into nightclubs. When they got taken at the club and brought to different states for sex, well that's sex trafficking, Rob had multiple counts of that, they basically had him on so many charges. He tried to take option two but it was too late. He got 77 years, not including the stacking charges on the sex trafficking and accessory to murder since one of the girls was 15 and got killed in another country."

Sarah's eyes were wide now and she couldn't believe what she was hearing. She opened her mouth to say something but closed it, unable to think of what to say.

"Once you're on these people's radar, you're not going to get off with nothing. I heard your friend's boyfriend tried to fight and they shot him in the leg," she finished with a shake of her head, "he's probably going to die in prison, you know." Sarah felt a cold certainty in her voice that she didn't like.

"Do you think that would happen to me?" Sarah asked, trying to feel for an answer while also not wanting to hear what she thought this woman was going to say.

"Yes." Her tone was matter-of-fact and to the point. "I've seen your file. What really pisses them off is that the company used federal money to start and was seen as a success of recent college students. You were mentioned in articles nationwide. Now it turns out you were just frauds. They look bad. Your friend took option two as well, smart of her. They were probably going to make examples out of you two."

"What's going to happen to me?" Sarah asked, again not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"I don't know," the woman answered and she sounded honest. "Once you're prepared to leave, we move onto the next step which is where we find out your sentence. I believe that you and your friend will be together for that, so that's nice. Once you receive your sentence, however," her head bowed to the side, trying to imply something. Sarah picked up on it. Once they received their sentence, there was no going back.

"What happens if you receive a sentence that you don't want to do? Like, you refuse to. I don't know what the sentences even are but like, what if-" she wasn't allowed to finish.

"There was a girl who came in with Alyssa and I. Seemed like she was trying to play the whole thing to come out on top. Don't remember what she was in for but something pretty serious to get them on her trail. Got her sentence, said she wouldn't do it, just bring her to court and she'd take her chances there. That's not an option that they give. Once you choose option two, your other option is gone."

"What happened to her?" Sarah asked, eyes wide as though she already knew the answer.

"I think you know by the look on your face right now," the woman answered. "They made it look like a suicide in federal lockup, like she couldn't face court. Then after, they planted a bunch of evidence that made her look guiltier than she probably was and moved on." Sarah began to cry again. "Look," the woman said quietly, "I'm not here to scare you. I'm glad I took option two, I'd rather be sleeping in a house with a husband and my kids and have a job, and all that than thinking about Rob's situation. Try to see the bright side of it," she squeezed Sarah's hands.

"What was your punishment?" Sarah asked between trying to take deep breaths. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She'd gone from CFO of a company to facing federal prison to now facing some kind of sentence that she had to take or else she'd be killed and it would look like she'd killed herself! Before the woman could answer, the door opened.

"All right great job Danielle," a man said as he entered, "it's about that time. Is our newest candidate for option two ready to find out her fate?" He noticed the stricken look on Sarah's face and noticed that Danielle's hand was on the girl's hands. "Everything all right in here?"

"We're not quite ready yet, just helping her calm some nerves," Danielle replied, "Agent Graves was excessively light with the details. She didn't know anything before she agreed to do it. She still needs to send a text to her sister."

"Oh goddamn it," the man said, "that's the third time this month. I'm going to speak to him after we get these two loaded up." He turned to face Sarah. He had a friendly look even through her swollen eyes. "I'm sure Danielle hasn't sugarcoated anything," he said with a nod, but his demeanor made him seem friendly and trustworthy. "I'm very sorry that Agent Graves wasn't so great about explaining things but I promise you that any sort of sentence that you receive will be a great deal better than spending the rest of your life in a prison cell," he nodded again. "I need you to send that text to your sister before we can allow you to leave, however." Danielle placed the phone in Sarah's handcuffed hands and told her what to type.

"Gonna be heading out in a few hours, Harper and I have a few international meetings so you might not be able to reach me. Love you!" Sarah's hands were shaking when she added the pickle emoji that her sister would know was from her and saw the message send. There was no turning back now.

The new agent spoke. "Right this way, your friend Harper is going to be at the sentencing building, you'll be able to be together during sentencing." This made Sarah smile slightly. "There you go! Let's get going!"

Danielle helped Sarah to her feet and guided her out of the room and down the hall towards the garage. "What is this place?" Sarah asked her, "why not a prison cell?"

"It's a safehouse," she replied, "anyone they think of offering option two, they get brought to a safehouse. Just makes it more comfortable and less intimidating." As they were entering the garage, Sarah saw the man who had last entered the room pulling aside the man they'd called Agent Graves. They had to wait for the car to be pulled in and she felt a flash of gratitude for the way he seemed to be tearing into Agent Graves.

"He's really pissed off," Danielle said in her ear, "don't think that's just for show. Graves has been slacking lately and trying to get numbers to impress. Him skipping on details just makes it worse when you realize that you can't take it back and you just made a very permanent decision. He might be fired for this one, it's actually the fourth this month." Sarah felt herself being pushed forward into the garage.