Chapter 7 - The Reckoning of Ramiro
As the trial progressed, Don Ramiro attempted to distance himself entirely from his son and wife, claiming he was completely unaware of the domestic abuse and the financial fraud inside his own home.
However, Natalia Torres had a final card to play. She called a surprise witness to the stand: the chief financial officer of Hale Construction, who had agreed to a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony.
"Don Ramiro personally instructed me to transfer funds from Mariana's inheritance account into the municipal campaign funds," the CFO testified, producing signed authorization letters. "He knew exactly where the money came from. He told me that Mariana was a 'nobody from Celaya' who would never have the courage to audit her own life."
Don Ramiro’s face turned gray as the documents were entered into evidence. The facade of the respectable patriarch was completely gone.
By the end of the two-week trial, the jury reached a unanimous verdict in less than two hours.
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Adrian Hale was found guilty of aggravated domestic assault, torture, and grand larceny, sentenced to fifteen years in a federal penitentiary. Don Ramiro was convicted of corporate fraud, bribery, and money laundering, receiving a twelve-year sentence. Beatriz, for her complicity and failure to provide aid during a felony, was sentenced to four years of house arrest and community service, her social standing completely erased.
The court also ordered the immediate liquidation of all frozen Hale assets to repay Mariana her full inheritance, plus damages.
