IBM's "Big Blue" can't cause stress for a Russian chess master like Montana Attorney General, Joseph Mazurek, feels in Helena. Joseph Mazurek has a dilemma.
Joseph Mazurek is confronted with a series of revelations that are rattling the foundations of the state and may send dozens of attorneys, politicians, and law enforcement officers to prison. At first the allegations were far away and goofy. Things that the Freemen or Militia of Montana or the fringe groups would promote. Things like black helicopters and New World Order conspiracies.
Joseph Mazurek, a middle-of-the-road Democrat, knew that the fringe groups never really had any inside information.
Then, after the Jordan stand-off and the Unabomber crises last spring it became clear that Montana was acquiring a reputation for corruption that rivaled Mexico or Columbia. To be sure, the arrest of Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski had been carried out with little or no co-ordination with the on-the-ground Montana law enforcement. There was the implication that Montana law enforcement and the Attorney General's office couldn't be trusted.
This was Joseph Mazurek's dilemma. For the first time in his life he was bewildered and shattered in a way that left him physically sick. Decisions were looming which would force him to make determinations which could affect not only his political career but could set the political course for Montana for the next twenty years.
The decisions revolved around the responsibilities of the Attorney General in Montana to prosecute crime. Joseph Mazurek was disturbed that good sources were telling of a looming money laundering and drug smuggling scandal that was starting to bubble and percolate through the Montana justice system grapevine. Serious law enforcement veterans were talking about murder, bribery, and multi-ton shipments of heroin and cocaine coming from a small landing strip near Weyburn, Saskatchewan into Montana.
Joseph Mazurek never liked Dan Nelson. Dan Nelson was a weight trainer at one of the health clubs in Helena. Dan had graduated a year before Joseph's 1967 senior class at Helena High School. Lately Nelson had been making lots of noise about being signed on to Stephen Speilberg's film cast as an extra working on the new "aliens" film around Helena.
But there was something else about Dan Nelson - and it was nothing Dan Nelson had done wrong - it was the beating in April, 1982 which destroyed Nelson's career as a body builder. The beating resulted in a hefty judgement against the City of Helena for a police brutality related assault. The incident haunted Joseph Mazurek.
The beating of Dan Nelson occurred during a domestic dispute involving Nelson's brother and his soon to be ex-wife. Mrs Theresa Nelson had become embroiled in a steamy affair with Christopher Racicot, a druggie with heavy political connections in Helena derived from his surname.
Despite a domestic court order Christopher Racicot had come on to Dan Nelson's yard that day and was loading Dan's brother's property out of Dan's garage. The two policemen - who came with Christopher Racicot-and who jumped Dan, after Dan asked what was going on, beat Dan and choked him to the point of near death. The Helena policemen had been all too eager to help Christopher Racicot. This was the thing that disturbed Joseph Mazurek to the depths of his soul.
Like prodigal Roger Clinton was to President Bill Clinton, Christopher Racicot was to his brother, Governor Marc Racicot. Christopher was always on the razor's edge. Christopher was a constant source of embarrassment to the Racicot family.
The comparison was even closer than most knew. Especially since insiders near the Republican Central Committee had decided against Marc Racicot as a candidate for the VP side of the national ticket for the the 2000 presidential campaign. Privately brother Marc had hoped to be on the ticket with the younger Bush brother from Texas. No, something else was slated for Montana.
Mazurek knew that a new inquiry into the death of Bob Krop was turning up evidence that Krop had been assassinated after he declined to act as a go between for a $50,000 bribe to the Montana Supreme Court. Mazurek also knew the name of another retired District Court judge had come up as having accepted a $50,000 bribe in yet another case involving a Great Falls bank.
Mazurek knew that litigation around an attorney feud in the small town of Sidney was starting to expose newly hired MCIB investigator David Schettine, as being involved in drug trafficking in Sidney. Mazurek had promised to assist with the investigation of the murders of two men near Sidney, Michael Wolfe and Bruce Madsen, one of whom had implicated detective Schettine in Sidney corruption.
Mazurek knew that several former intelligence operatives had made statements to the press that Chinook and other northern border towns were staging areas for an enormous drug smuggling operation. Mazurek also knew that the drug operation may be linked to a string of suspicious deaths in Chinook, Havre, Malta, Glendive, and Joplin.
Mazurek knew that the Mountain Bank of Whitefish scandal amounted to more than $100 million dollars and that Missoula attorney Terry Wallace was only the first of many indictments to be handed down. Mazurek knew that Marc Racicot had been the supervisor for Libby County Attorney William Douglas who was acquitted after being indicted with the Lucianos in Eureka-Libby related money laundering matters.
Joseph Mazurek had attended seminars which spoke of "white collar crime" and knew that there were sophisticated computer systems which could monitor electronic funds transfers. He had heard lots of things. Mazurek had heard talk about the Norwest Bank in Helena and money laundering.
Perhaps Joseph Mazurek noticed Marc Racicot's fallen countenance. Why was the man always glum ? Even Jock Bovington, a broker at the DA Davidson office in Helena, had noticed that Racicot was very reserved lately. Joseph Mazurek was also puzzled that Christopher Racicot had spoken of leaving Helena after his position with the "Montana Contractor's Association" had played out.
All these moves were coming very fast and Joseph Mazurek like Boris Kasporov struggled to make decisions. The pressure has become relentless.
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