A Few Good Men | 5

Summary

Criminal Attorney: Episode 5 - "A Few Good Men"

Release Date: October 14, 2024
Host/Author: Wondery
Title: Criminal Attorney

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Introduction

In the gripping fifth installment of Wondery's Criminal Attorney series, titled "A Few Good Men," listeners delve deeper into the intricate web surrounding Paul Bergren, a renowned criminal defense attorney in Newark, New Jersey. As Paul's reputation for securing client acquittals soars, so do the suspicions regarding his involvement in illicit activities. This episode unravels the complex dynamics between Paul, his clients, the FBI, and those who stand in between.

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The Suspicious Incident

The episode opens with John Edwards Tiffany recounting a peculiar encounter in Paul’s office. While heading home, John realized he forgot something and decided to retrieve it, only to find a man rummaging through legal files with a flashlight in Paul's office.

John Edwards Tiffany (00:59): "I startled the shit out. What are you doing?"

The paralegal hastily exited, leaving John unsettled. This unusual behavior hinted at the unconventional and possibly covert operations within Paul's legal practice.

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Paul Bergren and Will Hunsaker

The narrative shifts to Will Hunsaker, a dedicated soldier who finds himself wrongfully detained alongside three other soldiers accused of murdering three unarmed Iraqi detainees. Paul Bergren steps in pro bono to defend them, showcasing his relentless drive to challenge authority and expose corruption.

Paul Bergren (06:54): "I guess you could say if the light was to light up every little dark corner in that, there'd be a lot of cockroaches scattering."

Paul's strategy focuses on holding higher-ranking officials accountable, particularly the colonel who allegedly ordered the killings, despite the colonel receiving immunity.

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Arrest and Investigation

As Paul's investigative prowess intensifies, he simultaneously manages illegal enterprises, including an escort agency and money laundering operations. His dual life attracts the attention of FBI Agent Shawn Brokos, who perceives Paul as a formidable adversary.

Paul's apparent downfall begins when he is unexpectedly arrested for multiple felonies, including money laundering and conspiracy to promote prostitution. This arrest leaves his clients and associates bewildered, fearing that Paul's legal maneuvering might jeopardize ongoing cases.

Paul Bergren (07:21): "It was kind of challenging the status quo... trying to bring to light, look, this is what it is."

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Legal Maneuvers

Larry Lustberg, a respected criminal defense attorney and Paul's cousin, steps in to represent Paul. Despite initial reservations about the daunting case, Larry recognizes the significance and complexities involved. Their longstanding professional respect adds depth to the portrayal of legal battles.

Will Hunsaker (25:21): "If he was convicted of murdering a witness, Paul could face a death penalty."

Larry meticulously dissects the prosecution's case, aiming to dismantle the evidence linking Paul directly to the crimes. However, Paul's decision to represent himself adds unpredictability to the trial, highlighting his confidence and legal acumen.

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The Trial

Paul's courtroom appearance is a dramatic spectacle. Dressed in a pinstripe suit despite being in chains, he passionately defends himself against the charges. His opening argument successfully persuades the judge to sever the murder charge from the other felonies, narrowing the scope of the trial.

Paul Bergren (29:57): "But."

This strategic win forces the trial to focus solely on the murder charge, undermining the comprehensive prosecution's narrative. Despite extensive efforts, Shawn Brokos faces setbacks as the jury declares a mistrial, leaving Paul unconvicted but the case far from resolved.

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Conclusion

The episode culminates with Agent Shawn Brokos reflecting on the mistrial, expressing her exhaustion and desire to move on from the case. However, the unresolved verdict sets the stage for continued conflict, with the prosecution poised to pursue Paul relentlessly in future trials.

Shawn Brokos (32:11): "FBI always gets its man."

As the episode draws to a close, the tension remains palpable, indicating that Paul's battle with the law is far from over. Listeners are left anticipating the final installment, where the pursuit reaches its climax.

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Key Takeaways

• Paul Bergren's Dual Life: Paul adeptly balances his high-profile legal cases with illicit activities, making him a complex and elusive character.

• Agent Shawn Brokos' Determination: Shawn's relentless pursuit of Paul showcases her commitment to justice, despite personal and professional challenges.

• Legal Strategy and Tactics: The trial underscores the intricacies of legal maneuvers, highlighting how strategic decisions can sway high-stakes cases.

• Moral Ambiguities: The episode delves into ethical dilemmas, questioning the boundaries between lawful defense and unlawful actions.

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Notable Quotes

• John Edwards Tiffany (00:59): "I startled the shit out. What are you doing?"

• Paul Bergren (06:54): "I guess you could say if the light was to light up every little dark corner in that, there'd be a lot of cockroaches scattering."

• Paul Bergren (07:21): "It was kind of challenging the status quo... trying to bring to light, look, this is what it is."

• Will Hunsaker (25:21): "If he was convicted of murdering a witness, Paul could face a death penalty."

• Paul Bergren (29:57): "But."

• Shawn Brokos (32:11): "FBI always gets its man."

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Stay Tuned: As the battle between Paul Bergren and Agent Shawn Brokos intensifies, the final episode promises to deliver a riveting conclusion to this legal thriller. Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to continue the journey.

Transcript

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Wondery subscribers can binge all episodes of Criminal Attorney early and ad free. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. John Edwards Tiffany was heading home for the night. He got down to the lobby of the office building he shared with Paul when he realized that he'd forgotten something he needed. So he headed back up.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

And I hear something, and I hear it back in the direction coming from Paul's office. And I'm like, maybe Paul's there.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

John walked down the hall and opened the door to Paul's office to see what was going on.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

And I come in and I see a guy with a flashlight. Things are dark, and he's going through, looking at files.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The guy turned around and saw John standing there.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

I startled the shit out. What are you doing? He jumps up. Oh, I, you know, I was looking for something. I was almost annoyed. I was like, what the hell you doing? Turn the light on. I flipped the light on.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The rummaging through legal files with the flashlight all felt very clandestine.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

I asked him who he was. Oh, I'm paralegal. I'm doing this, I'm doing that. Okay.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The guy with the flashlight left pretty swiftly after that. But John couldn't shake the interaction he had with Paul's paralegal. By this point, he knew that Paul had a lot of strange characters who'd worked for him.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

There were some people in the office that obviously had criminal records.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Back in his car, John called Paul.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

I said, paul. I said, damn, this thing. Bizarre. He goes, what? I said, yeah. I said, some paralegal. And he's sitting there with a flashlight. Why would he do that? Just take him and go into a conference room and turn the light on.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul didn't seem to think much of it.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

He was appreciative. Thank you for telling me, jt. Yeah, he's a paralegal. Blah, blah, blah. He kind of downplayed it.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paralegal can mean a few different things in Paul's office. It could mean legal assistant, or it can mean a job on paper for clients to help them stay out of jail. John knew a bit about Paul's involvement with New York Confidential. He knew the feds were building a case against Paul.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

I think the guy was working for the government, or at least had some connection and was feeding information to the government.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Whether or not the guy was working for the government, the heat was on Paul. But instead of playing a conservative, Paul was going hard. He tackled big, newsworthy legal cases while simultaneously taking over an illegal escort agency and running a money laundering Operation Paul was moving as if he was untouchable, but the truth was that he was exposed on all sides. It wouldn't be long before those who were hunting him set the perfect track that he'd walk right into from wondering. I'm Brandon Jenks Jenkins, and this is Criminal Attorney.

[Will Hunsaker]

Crooked politicians looking over shoulders in opposite.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Position Run, better run better run Run from the boogeyman this is episode five, A Few Good Men. Will Hunsaker was in trouble.

[Paul Bergren]

I came back from a combat mission, all right? I had literally been fighting. They woke me up after I went to sleep for a few hours, took me off and threw me in chains.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Literally overnight, Will went from an active duty soldier to sitting in an 8 by 8 windowless cell.

[Paul Bergren]

I had to sleep in shackles, right? In a belly chain and handcuffs. I had to sleep in that stuff, all right, which is illegal.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

You're not allowed to do that.

[Paul Bergren]

And when I had to shower, I had a shower in shackles.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Will had wanted to be a soldier basically since he learned to walk. When the US invaded Iraq while he was in high school, he begged his mom to let him quit school so he could join up. As soon as he could enlist, he did and he shipped off to Iraq. But things ended up going terribly wrong. And now Will and three other soldiers were sitting in military detention in a bleak concrete building that stood alone in the desert. That's where Will met Paul Bergren. Paul was representing one of the other accused men pro bono. In his unpublished memoir, Paul said he flew on his own dime and waited in Kuwait to get on military transport to Iraq. He finally made it to Iraq days later on a rickety, overcrowded C130 aircraft. Will took note of the civilian lawyer immediately.

[Paul Bergren]

And then there's Berggren, who is wearing like a Hawaiian shirt, right? He's got this puff of chest hair coming out from the V of it, and he's got his Golden Glove boxer necklace sitting on that puffed chest hair.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

In a combat zone, though Paul seemed comically out of place, Will was impressed that he'd shown up in person. The place where Will and the other defendants were being held was just north of Baghdad. It was one of the most dangerous regions in Iraq at the time. A place where you could get kidnapped or blown up.

[Paul Bergren]

It's hostile territory. You know, at that point in time, it was hot. You know, it was not a safe place to be.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

But Paul was there.

[Paul Bergren]

You know, the man had a giant sack on him, probably like a pillow sack full of steel bricks. He had the. The experience to Swing, big fist.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

You know, Paul wrote that he lived by the soldiers creed to never leave a fallen comrade, which is how he viewed will and the other imprisoned soldiers. And they didn't have many people in their corner at that point because will and the others had been accused of a heinous crime. They were in prison because they'd been charged with murdering three unarmed iraqi detainees. The soldiers had initially told investigators they'd shot the detainees because they were escaping. But now they claim the orders to kill came directly from their colonel, that he'd instructed them to kill all military age males. They were just following orders. Almost anyone would see this as cold blooded murder. But when paul looked at it, he saw scapegoats. Paul wanted to use the same playbook he'd used to get a light sentence for javal davis, the soldier accused of torturing detainees at the abu ghraib prison in iraq. His strategy then was about holding the people near the top responsible. And for Paul, that included the colonel, who allegedly told the soldiers what to do. But the colonel hadn't even been charged. Instead, the army had given him immunity to testify against his own soldiers.

[Paul Bergren]

I guess you could say if the light was to light up every little dark corner in that, there'd be a lot of cockroaches scattering. And some of those cockroaches carry pretty heavy rank, you know, and they weren't going to burn. It's just a lot easier to burn us.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul poured over records and questioned the witnesses. This time, paul didn't want a plea deal. He wanted to go to trial. Paul wanted to fight.

[Paul Bergren]

It was kind of challenging the status quo, you know, because at the end of the day, it's not what it is, but what it can be made to look like, right? And he was trying to bring to light, look, this is what it is. This isn't these men doing. They are doing what they were told.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

But if it was paul's goal to put the u. S. Government on blast, he wasn't going to get the chance this time either. Because as quickly as paul ber granted enter will's life, he disappeared. My mom told me, actually paul's illegal activities had overtaken his legal ones. Will's mom called him up. She told him paul had been arrested.

[Paul Bergren]

And I'm like, ain't that a bitch?

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul disappearing on the eve of their trial shocked everyone involved. And even though will had his own lawyer, he saw paul's fate as a bad omen. Paul had seemed like a fighter, but as it turned out, he couldn't even Protect himself. Will and his mother suspected Paul. That Paul's arrest had somehow put pressure on Will's own attorney to accept the plea deal.

[Paul Bergren]

I think he felt defeated. The look on his face was just like he didn't know what to do.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Will took the plea and got sentenced to 18 years in prison.

[Paul Bergren]

When they took Bergman down, it stacked against you. So you gotta ask yourself, look, is you gonna go down for the rest of your life or you're not? And that's why I took my plea. It's like, I'm not rotten in prison for any of these bastards, you know, I did enough sins for my country and this government and his unit.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Just as Will was coming to grips with his plea, Paul was over in Newark, having the same experience as so many of his clients. Hearing the jail doors shut. On the day Paul was arrested, John Edwards Tiffany raced down to the courthouse. He found Paul in lockup.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

He was almost like he'd just gotten out of bed. Unruffled, nonplussed, Wasn't like, oh my God, you got to help me. It was like just autopilot.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

His work with New York Confidential had finally caught up with him.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

I walk into the cell and I see these, these extradition papers and I take the papers and I rip them up. I said, you ain't signing any extradition.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Looking over the papers, John saw that Paul's being charged in New York with eight felonies. And these were serious crimes. He was being accused of money laundering, conspiracy to promote prostitution, and misconduct by an attorney. This was the point when John knew most people in Paul's life would run for the hills. But John had no plans to desert his friend when he needed him the most.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

I was committed, I was loyal. And maybe, yeah, there was a higher purpose in the sense of maybe trying to pick up the pieces in a worst case scenario. But I really felt that he was hard done by at that point. Maybe I was naive. I was going to stick by my brother and I was going to be loyal.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul knew nearly everyone at the courthouse, and it seemed like half of them thought his luck had finally run out. The first lawyer John asked about bail practically laughed in his face. That's when he knew they were out for blood. But John won that fight, and fugitive bail was set at half a million dollars. A few hours later, Paul left his jail cell and went back to the office. Paul and his defense team had their work cut out for them. The New York prosecutors seemed dead set on taking this case all the way to court.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

The District Attorney's office in New York was unequivocal. There's going to be no plea deals. We're going to try this case.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

They held firm for over two years until one day they suddenly flipped the script. In early 2009, John got a call. It was Paul's New York lawyer, a guy named Jerry Chargel. After all this time, the prosecution was offering a deal, and it was a good one.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

Listen, there's a deal on the table for misdemeanor police conditional discharge. What that means is you go in, you plead guilty, there's no probation, maybe you pay a fine, you're done, you're out of the system.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

It was basically like getting a traffic ticket.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

I was like, wow. So Jerry says to me, you got to come up to my office when I talk to Paul, and you got to convince Paul to take this.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

John met with Paul and leveled with him.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

And I said quite candidly, take the misdemeanor. You're not going to be disbarred. You may be suspended, but take the deal. So he agrees.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul went down to the courthouse and entered his plea. Not exactly a win, but he was still a lawyer, and he was free. Even though John counseled Paul to take the deal, something about it seemed too good to be true. He had an uncomfortable feeling. He called his wife after Paul entered his plea.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

They said, but, you know, something doesn't seem right. She says, what do you mean? You got a great deal? That's what bothers me.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

John wondered why the prosecutors been willing to take a misdemeanor plea after two years on eight felonies.

[John Edwards Tiffany]

So she's like, oh, no, no, don't think you're overthinking this. I wasn't.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

John was a defense attorney, but he was thinking like a prosecutor. Maybe it just been so many years since Paul was one that he'd forgotten how to think like a prosecutor, too. He could no longer see where he was vulnerable. But John could see it. He knew something was coming. No one understood the impact of Paul's lack of foresight more than Shawn Brokos. And certainly no one was more appreciative when Paul pleaded guilty to promotion to prostitution. Thinking he was saving himself, he'd actually given Shawn a gift. That admission of guilt was an essential piece the FBI needed to make this.

[Shawn Brokos]

A RICO case, meaning the law office was the criminal enterprise that allowed Berggren to do all of this other illegal activity. So the murder for hires, the prostitution ring, the money laundering.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

They would have had to prove all those charges in court, but Paul had given them a leg Up Sean and the feds wouldn't have to fight him on the promotion of prostitution charges because he had already admitted to them. It had been five years since Keemo was murdered. And finally, with Paul's unwitting help, she had assembled all of the pieces she needed. Shawn and the FBI were ready to take Paul in. It was about a 20 minute drive from the FBI office in Newark to the townhouse out in the suburbs where Paul lived with his girlfriend Yolanda. They arrived just before 7:30 in the morning. The objective was to take Paul quietly without a fight. But based on what they knew, there was the possibility it could go another way.

[Shawn Brokos]

There was probably guns in the home with Yolanda. So we had multiple discussions about making this a SWAT arrest because of the access Paul had to weapons, but also his volatility going into this. We know we're dealing with somebody who has a tremendous ego, who thrived on beating the system. And all of the sudden when you see the FBI at your door coming with an arrest warrant, what is that going to mean?

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The potential that things could get messy made Shawn want to be extra cautious.

[Shawn Brokos]

But I, you know, I'm really running, leading this operation and if anybody gets hurt, it's going to be because of me. And I can't live with that. Probably goes back to what happened with chemo, but I just, I just wanted everybody to be safe.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

So instead of banging on the door and taking Paul by force, they set up surveillance around the townhouse and they waited. Finally, the front door opened and out stepped Paul Pergrin. He was wearing suit pants and a pressed shirt. He hadn't put on his tie yet and his suit jacket was draped over his shoulder.

[Shawn Brokos]

We watched and made sure he got closer to the car. And then the command was given to execute.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

At that moment, multiple agents and officers descended on Paul. As one of the officers put Paul in handcuffs, Shawn looked him directly in the eyes.

[Shawn Brokos]

I said, you're under arrest. We are going to be transporting you to our office at which time we will explain this to you. I know you know the drill.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul said nothing in response. She watched as they placed him in the car and drove away. When Shawn got back to the FBI office, Paul was already there. You know that scene in Heat when Pacino, as a dog advice detective, and De Niro meet for the first time at the diner just off the highway and the perfectly matched adversary share coffee and say all sorts of cool, reflective things to each other, like two sides of a dark tinted window. This wasn't that. Instead, Shawn did most of the talking.

[Shawn Brokos]

We got him into the arrest room and we uncuffed him and then cuffed one hand to the railing. And he just sat at the table in the interview room. And that's when we started talking to him. Talking at him probably is more accurate.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

She laid out the charges. Witness tampering, money laundering, drugs, murder. According to Sean, despite the serious charges, Paul didn't seem all that bothered.

[Shawn Brokos]

The only thing that really seemed to upset him was that we found steroids in the car and he was denying they were his. And I'm thinking, in the grand scheme of things, this is so unimportant. Nobody cares. You've been charged with RICO and with drugs and with murder and all of these things. I don't think steroids is going to make or break our investigation.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

She let Paul know the full scope of the investigation.

[Shawn Brokos]

It was the opportunity to sit down and say to him, we know what you've been doing. You can't lie anymore. We're not expecting you to cooperate, but I want you to know that we have this evidence against you. And I laid it out pretty methodically. And I was also clear, very clear. Because he's a lawyer. I'm not asking you questions. This is not an interview. We did Mirandize him. He read his rights, he signed them, he acknowledged them.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Unlike Keemo and Will Baskerville, Sean had no intention of flipping Paul. For Sean, he was the end of the line, the man at the top. She should have been feeling victorious. When she looked across at Paul, it was a bit more complicated.

[Shawn Brokos]

And I never thought I'd have this feeling, but I looked across the table and I actually felt sorry for him because he's so pathetic. Because here he had built this whole house of cards and thought he had built everything so airtight and manipulated people so well. And it all unraveled around him. And I could see that he was afraid. I think I actually saw a glimpse of humanity in there.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul may have appeared afraid, but Shawn knew that deep down, he was still ruthless. And that in order to beat him, she'd have to be ruthless, too. The FBI arrested four of Paul Begreen's accomplices that day, including Yolanda. The day after Shawn arrested Paul, she was parked out in front of Isabella's restaurant in Newark, the same restaurant that Paul and Yolanda own together. Isabella's is nestled in a quiet residential neighborhood across from school. Out front, there's a red awning where the Isabella logo is flanked by a palm tree in the castle. But she wasn't there. For a meal.

[Shawn Brokos]

We knew they were laundering money through it. We suspected it was drug money.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

With Sean was a team of DEA and FBI agents. They streamed in the front door. It went straight through the dining area and into the kitchen. It didn't take them long to find what they were looking for. When they got to the back corner of the kitchen, Shawn knew they were in luck.

[Shawn Brokos]

We saw what there was. Multiple kilos of cocaine. Just big huge black duffel bags full of kilos.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

They were just in time.

[Shawn Brokos]

They were being dropped off for somebody else to pick them up.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The drugs came up from Mexico directly from the cartel.

[Shawn Brokos]

This was a large scale drug operation that was a well oiled machine.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The drugs were evidence against Paul, sure. But there was something even more valuable to come out of this bust. Leverage. Yolanda had first met Paul in his law office. By the time the feds came knocking on Paul's door years later, she'd become an integral part of his operation. One newspaper would later describe her as the Bonnie to Paul's Clyde. After the drug bust at Isabella's, Yolanda was in even deeper. This gave Shawn the opportunity to go back to her playbook. She would flip Yolanda, get intel on Paul's many crimes, maybe even get her to testify against him. You tell me what I need to know, you do less jail time.

[Shawn Brokos]

It was after that that we were able to get Yolanda on board as a cooperator.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Yolanda took the deal and she laid.

[Shawn Brokos]

This out for us. And then we got to see the world of how big this really was.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Now that Bonnie had turned on Clyde, Shawn was finally one step ahead of Paul. And she wasn't about to lose that advantage. But unlike Shawn, Paul was willing to go outside the law. Very far outside. A few weeks after Paul's arrest, Shawn was drinking beer with a friend on her patio when she got word that Paul was talking with Yolanda about her from prison.

[Shawn Brokos]

During that meeting, they talked about putting a hit out on me.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Unfortunately for him, Yolanda was now working with the FBI on a recorded line the agency was listening to. That's when a bunch of squad cars came and interrupted Sean's evening. When she got the news, Sean was stunned at Paul's audacity.

[Shawn Brokos]

There's such a heavy price that comes with killing a federal agent. That was in my mind. I don't know why I made that distinction. I'm not saying it's rational. He'd kill a source, but not an agent. That's how I always saw it, that he's just not that stupid.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The Crazy thing was, it wouldn't even help Paul beat his charges.

[Shawn Brokos]

If you hate me, you hate me. And if you want to kill me just because you hate me, that's one thing. But if you hate me because you think you're going to get somewhere in your case, it's never going to happen. I'm replaceable. If I were to die, there'd be another agent who could testify in my place.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

The FBI was concerned for Shawn's safety and wanted to move her somewhere more secure. She refused. So they decided to deploy their new secret weapon. Shawn said they actually landed to set up another conversation with Paul, and they gave her a script.

[Shawn Brokos]

Yolanda was sent back with the explicit purpose of saying, you can't do that. You don't want to kill a federal agent. So I knew that we were able to tamp it down.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

When Shawn flipped Yolanda, she'd anticipated having to protect her from Paul, but she hadn't anticipated Yolanda doing the same. The only way for Shawn to feel secure was to make sure his criminal charges stick. Paul Bergren knew the system inside and out. He was a lawyer and had fought his way through countless courtrooms. Shawn was outside of her wheelhouse. Paul was not. Paul had worked miracles for his clients. Now he'd have to work them for himself. In New Jersey, everything happens in diners. It's where we celebrate, it's where we do business, and sometimes it's where we go to hire a lawyer.

[Will Hunsaker]

Yeah. So I met Ron at a diner in Summit, New Jersey. I remember that meeting.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Larry Lustberg is a distinguished criminal defense attorney in New Jersey. Ron Bergrin, Paul's cousin, had reached out, asking him to help Paul.

[Will Hunsaker]

Ron was imploring me to take the case.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

They met at the Broadway Diner. It's a classic roadside spot with cozy booths, soft lighting, and a sign reading World's Best Pancakes. They grabbed the table and got down to it.

[Will Hunsaker]

I had my doubts about getting involved in the case. It just seemed like a very big case, and I didn't know whether there would be enough money involved. You know, to try this case privately would be millions and millions and millions of dollars. And there was nothing like that.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

But Larry could see this was going to get a lot of attention.

[Will Hunsaker]

You always want to be involved in the big cases of the day. I mean, it's just. It's the way we are. I mean, you know, we want to be involved in the hot stuff.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

And when Larry saw Paul's indictment, it was definitely the hot stuff. It read like an airport crime thriller. Among the Charges racketeering and racketeering, conspiracy, wire fraud and wire fraud, conspiracy and murder of a witness.

[Will Hunsaker]

I said to Ron the first time I met him, paul's only chance of winning this case is if it gets broken down, because he can win each of these. But once you put them all together, the jury's gonna think he's just a criminal mastermind.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

And if he was convicted of murdering a witness, Paul could face a death penalty.

[Will Hunsaker]

I've always been an opponent of the death penalty, so I would be inclined to get involved for that reason as well.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Even without a death sentence, Paul could go to prison for life. And there was another reason.

[Will Hunsaker]

I also knew Paul and thought that it would be interesting to represent him because I kind of knew how he was.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

That's because Larry had actually faced off against Paul in court in the 1980s when they were both coming up. He'd been impressed by his aggressive style.

[Will Hunsaker]

There was no issue that was too small for him to pick apart.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Larry had been defending a Newark postmaster accused of tossing a few thousand pieces of junk mail, and Paul had been trying to throw the book at him.

[Will Hunsaker]

I really firmly believe that if that case had been a homicide, he would have fought it just as hard as he did a, you know, heady offense of discarding mail.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Afterward, Larry stayed in touch with Paul as both of their careers advanced beyond litigating junk mail. They weren't friends, but they had a mutual respect for one another. So decades later, Larry decided to defend Paul. He thought the feds might be able to prove Paul had bent the rules, even that he'd crossed the line. But a murderer, Larry just didn't buy it. Paul was being held in prison in Brooklyn. So Larry spent a lot of time driving back and forth between New Jersey and New York for meetings with him.

[Will Hunsaker]

I mean, it's hard to try a case when you're not incarcerated. The hours are unbelievably long.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

But Paul was incarcerated. He was being held at a grim gray fortress that was nothing like the plush wood paneled offices he was used to.

[Will Hunsaker]

It was gross. It was smelly and dirty and yucky.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Larry visited with Paul in the conference room there.

[Will Hunsaker]

You know, he's in a prison jumpsuit. We would go over documents with him, you know, talk about strategy. He would frequently give us tasks to do that he couldn't do from the inside. We would spend hours talking about the evidence.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Larry saw weaknesses in Sean and the FBI's case, specifically the charge that Paul personally ordered Kemo McCray's killing.

[Will Hunsaker]

Paul's entire involvement in the case, if you believe the government, is that he attended a meeting in which he said, no chemo, no case.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Larry didn't think that was enough for any jury to convict Paul.

[Will Hunsaker]

If Paul knew that this murderous group was going to act on that by killing chemo, that would be one thing. But the government provided no evidence other than Anthony Young to support the idea that anybody understood that that's what Paul was saying, had to be done. And after that, Paul has no involvement. He's not at the scene of the crime. There's no communications with him after the crime was saying, done deal, we're now good.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Larry was planning to argue there was not enough evidence to prove that Paul had given instructions to kill Kemo. But months before they were due in court, Paul shifted his plans. Larry would no longer be trying this case.

[Will Hunsaker]

Paul chose to represent himself.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Larry would still be by Paul's side during the trial. But Larry wasn't sure it was the right move. You know the old saying, the man who represents himself has a fool for a client.

[Will Hunsaker]

Did I think he would have a better chance of winning it than I would? I'm not so sure. In a way, it's a slap, right? You know, he thinks he can do a better job.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

It was true that Paul had a nearly flawless record when it came to getting people off. So maybe he figured there was no better lawyer to free Paul Berggren than Paul Bergrand. And Larry also believed in Paul.

[Will Hunsaker]

I understand his passion for his own case. You know, he lived it. And I also just believe in a person's constitutional right to represent yourself.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

In October of 2011, Paul arrived at the courthouse in chains and changed from his prison jumpsuit into a pinstripe suit. He'd been arguing cases for decades, but this would be the first one where his movements as a lawyer would be severely restricted. Paul would not be allowed to approach witnesses or the jury. He had to stay near his lectern. The judge had threatened to fit him with an ankle monitor that would deliver electric shocks if he couldn't follow these rules. Even with the odds stacked against him, Paul seemed ready to exercise his constitutional right to save his own ass. His opening gambit was to try and convince the judge to separate out his charges.

[Will Hunsaker]

If it was all broken down, he would have a chance of victory because the jury wouldn't have the challenge of compartmentalizing each of these different schemes.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

This was a huge decision by the judge that could make or break the prosecution or the defense's case. And it worked. The judge agreed with Paul. This meant the trial would only deal with the murder, not the full scope of his criminal activities.

[Shawn Brokos]

It was meant to be tried in totality.

[Paul Bergren]

But.

[Shawn Brokos]

And so when that judge severed the murder from the rest of the indictment, it was daunting, to say the least. It defied all logic.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

For Shawn, none of these crimes existed in a vacuum. Now, if she got on the stand and said anything out of bounds, she could botch the murder case.

[Shawn Brokos]

It was very difficult because your hands are tied. You're trying to explain why Kima was murdered, but you can only say so much. And I remember testifying, and I would have to kind of look to the judge, what can I get into? What can I.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

As for Paul, he addressed the jury like a man whose life depended on it, because it did. He told them that the prosecutor's claims were, quote, more fiction than you've probably ever heard in your entire life. He told them he had no need to order Kemo's death.

[Will Hunsaker]

He talks about how, regardless of whether Kimo was. Was there, they had surveillance tapes and audio tapes and lots of evidence against William. Either way, Paul's view of this case from the outset was not that he was going to get William off in some regard, especially by killing somebody, but that the case would be resolved by virtue of as favorable a plea bargain as he could get. And I thought that those arguments were compelling.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

And the jury did, too. Days into the deliberation, the foreman of the jury passed a note to the judge. They had hit deadlock. The judge told the lawyers he didn't think more time was going to resolve the issues.

[Shawn Brokos]

We knew probably after day two that, I mean, look, we were. I'm glad it was not an acquittal, but, you know, hung jury was definitely a loss for us.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

Paul had pulled off a remarkable feat of lawyering, not to mention his self preservation. He'd represented himself. A risky move to start. And at the end of the trial, he was not convicted. It ended in a mistrial.

[Shawn Brokos]

You know, the whole thing was. Was devastating. I had now worked this case actively since 2004.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

All those years, she investigated Paul for chemo's death, sat by a phone that didn't ring, chased leads, worked dicey informants. She had caught him and in the 11th hour, watched him pull off a miracle. Sean was emotionally exhausted.

[Shawn Brokos]

I wanted this chapter in my life behind me. I wanted to move on. I wanted to work other cases. I just wanted to be done with this.

[Brandon Jenks Jenkins]

But a hung jury meant that this was not over yet. The judge set a new trial date so that Paul and the US Attorneys could start all over again. The fight had been bruising, but neither side was going to back down anytime soon. And for the next trial, the feds would come out swinging. What did they say? FBI always gets its man. I mean, that's they were going to pursue this until they got him. And whether that's fair or not fair, that's the reality. That's on the next and final episode of Criminal Attorney. Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your podcasts. You can binge all episodes early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] survey from Wondery this is episode five of six of Criminal Attorney. Criminal Attorney is hosted by me, Brandon Jenks Jenkins. This series is reported and written by Matthew Nelson. Senior producers are Chris Segal and Stephanie Wachnini. Senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle Associate producer is Malachi Wade Consulting producer is David Fox with additional writing from Neil Drumming Fact checking by Annika Robbins sound design and mixing by Jeff Schmidt Audio assistance by Daniel William Gonzalez Sound supervisor is Marcel Lino Villalpando Music supervisor is Scott Velasquez. For Freesound Sync Senior Managing producer is Latta Pandya Managing Producer is Heather Beloga Development producer is Olivia Weber Executive producer is Matthew Nelson Executive producers are Nadri Eaton, George Lavender, Marshall, Louie and Jen Sargent. For Wondrous.