Wednesday around 4pm the jury came back with a decision. They found both defendants guilty of the charges against them. Since federal court is conducted in English here, while the defendants had earphones through which they could hear a translation of the verdict, their family members did not realize what was going on until the U.S. Marshalls came forward with the handcuffs. Then they started to wail. We took everything that was in the pockets of our client (they have to be empty to go into custody) and sat with our client's mother as he was led away and she sobbed. Then we walked her to her car where she turned to us and asked "Is that it?"

That’s it. Her son is now a federal prisoner, in the custody of the government. He will be sentenced in August and faces decades in prison.

It is impossible to convey the intensity of the trial experience. I learned more in those three days about criminal law, about my abilities as a lawyer, and, honestly, about people than I have in all of law school. It was an experience I will literally never forget.