Kathleen Casey, my Buffalo hinterlands correspondent, has caught a live one up there in the hinterlands Buffalo.  What exactly happens when a privately-owned company contracting with the United States military gets caught screwing around?  Not much.  At least when you have the right lawyers.

From the  Buffalo News comes this story about the sweet deal for National Air Cargo in federal court.

A no-jail plea deal for an alleged multimillion- dollar crime was one of several significant breaks the U.S. Justice Department gave to Alf. There were others:

• The government decided to focus its probe on one small portion of Alf’s business, military shipments within the continental United States. The biggest part of Alf’s business — arranging military shipments to Iraq and Afghanistan — was not scrutinized.

• No individuals were charged, and the company was allowed to plead guilty as an entity.

• Prosecutors agreed that, if the documents the company has given them reveal any “smoking gun” evidence of crimes in the company’s Iraq or Afghanistan operations, they will not prosecute. The company would get a free pass.

• Although the government claims the company made more than $13.8 million based on a series of false statements during a three-year period, the company was allowed to plead guilty to one false statement that a military shipment arrived on time when, in fact, it was late. The false statement cost the government $400 on one shipment to a military base in March 2001.

• The Justice Department agreed not to take any official position on whether National Air Cargo should maintain its profitable status as a defense contractor.  Keeping its access to military contracts means the world to National Air Cargo.

The owner of the company, Christopher J. Alf, didn’t bother to show up in court for the plea.  Instead, he sent his general counsel over, with a check to the government of $20 million. 

So how is it possible that Alf bought his way out of this for chump change (yes, chump change, since he’s pulled down $400 million from his government contracts)?  Here’s the secret.  Shhhhh!  Keep this to yourself. National Cargo and top company officials were represented by

Buffalo’s top attorneys — including [Paul] Cambria, Rodney O. Personius, Terrence M. Connors, Joel L. Daniels and Daniel J. Henry Jr.

Who, you ask?  What about Mr. Skadden and Mr. Arps?  Where are the Biglaw guys with “resources” that important white collar defendants absolutely must have?  Who are these guys?

Let me tell you who.  These are real lawyers.  These are lawyers who can and do strike fear in the hearts of United States Attorneys, because they don’t rush over to the federal building to have tea with the prosecutors.  They don’t come from huge, multi-national, resource-laden, household-word named firms.  They are just your everyday, run-of-the-mill, killer criminal defense lawyers.  I know some of these guys.  They are good.

A team of top defense lawyers can affect a prosecutor’s decision on how aggressively to pursue a case, according to some legal experts, including Amey and Peter J. Henning, a former federal prosecutor.

“A prosecutor should always look at the quality of the lawyers on the other side. You look at the risks and costs of going to trial,” said Henning, who now teaches about white collar crime at the Wayne State University Law School in Detroit.

While Henning’s quote relates to the Williams & Connelly connection,  the gist of his point is dead accurate.  It’s not about who impresses the client, but who impresses the prosecutor, when it comes time to figure out whether you’re going to jail with Martha or depositing government payment checks like Alf.

How many times will I have to post about this.  No matter how self-important or pompous you are, no matter how much you think your being “white collar” makes everything different, when it is a criminal prosecution, you need a real criminal defense lawyer.   They have a special wing in federal prisons for idiots.

I bet Christopher Alf feels awfully good about things today. 

As for the rest of the story, and for those who recognize the irony of this plea in the same courtroom where petty drug dealers get 10 year mandatory minimums and are disgusted by the fact that corporate contractors can buy their way out thievery and deceit with petty cash, this is a case study in a flawed system and the relative benefits of having money to spend.  It’s a good story to read to the kids at bedtime.