Mitigating Factors

We had gotten so used to getting bad news, we had stopped anticipating receiving any good news at all.  But the probation recommendation was the one bright light throughout this entire situation.  After collecting and compiling all of Travis’s information, the probation office had made a recommendation of three years probation supervision with 150 hours […]

Unrelenting

Travis has many qualities I’ve always admired, one of them being his tenacious and unrelenting drive to see something through to the end.  It was a very useful trait for him to have throughout this experience. It is now around the 20th of July.  It’s been a month since Travis’s court appearance where he accepted […]

The Axe

It was Friday morning.  Fridays were always a blessing because it meant we had made it through another week, I generally had a bit of a break on the weekends compared to the commitments and work during the week and had more time and energy to be of support to Travis. Friday mornings meant we […]

Infamously Famous

We lived on coffee, adrenaline, and the hope of reprieve until June 16th.  We were so anxious about what was to come and so expectant to finally find a bit of peace in our lives knowing there would be a few months until sentencing. The hearing for Travis to enter his official plea was held […]

As I Lay Me Down to Sleep, I Pray the Lord My Soul to Keep

There’s one resounding theme which repeats over and over in this story.  We were never ready or prepared for what we were about to experience next.  While Travis was clearly stressed, anxious, sometimes paranoid, and saying he was lacking sleep is a massive understatement, he was remaining very composed throughout this crazy journey.  In fact, […]

The Family Fallout

After growing up in Lincoln, Travis moved to Arizona for 15 years.  In 2017 he was looking for a transition to a job or business opportunity that would fulfill him.  As part of this transition, Travis returned to Lincoln and stayed with his brother and sister-in-law while he decided what his next move would be.  […]

The Evidence

With just under a week to review the evidence I got to work looking at everything available to me objectively.  A new case with fresh eyes, setting aside bias of my criminal justice experience, what I know to be true of Travis’s character, and just following where the evidence led. The evidence the prosecution had […]

Do As I Say

It was the very next day, June 2nd.  I was minding my own business completing another day’s work for the government and my business when my phone rang.  Caller ID:  FBI.  Was it really them, would they call from a number with caller ID because their previous calls had not registered on caller ID?  Was […]

Playing the Odds

There’s a common saying in the criminal defense world:  “the federal government can indict a ham sandwich,” and Travis’s defense attorney was disinterested in taking this case to trial.  The defense attorney shared a few stats with Travis, and then we began doing additional research to get the full picture. The statistics are terrifying when […]

Mr. & Mrs. Smith Out of the Theatre & in Our Home

The next morning Travis left early to go meet with the agents.  He had never been involved in anything like this ever, and he didn’t want to be late.  The interview took longer than they had told him it would.  As the minutes ticked by my anxiety grew stronger and stronger. Had they detained him?  […]