We, the jury, were tasked to consider the case of "United States v. Kevin Redstrom. Mr. Redstrom was indicted on charges of conspiracy to possess and distribute marijuana and conspiracy to launder money. Mr. Redstrom was the last of the defendants in the case to go to trial. His two co-defendants, Mario Armas and Lonnie Merren, were already in prison as was Jimmy Collins. Collins was the man who brought the conspiracy to light when he made a deal with the government after Mr. Armas had him arrested, and he while he was not charged in this case he was subsequently arrested when he was caught with marijuana after his plea agreement. Mr. Collins had met Mr. Redstrom when he had purchased some horse trailers from Carl Black Trailers, where Restrom was the salesman and manger. Kevin Redstrom is a professional rodeo roper and Jimmy Collins had hooked up with a barrel racer and stripper named Katti Cash. Jimmy Collins said that Restrom had told him he had money woes and Collins told him he had an investment opportunity with a fifty percent return. Jimmy Collins had told Restrom he was in the bail bonding business and let him believe that the opportunity was tied to it, but he testified that he told Restrom not to ask too many questions. Restrom evidently tried to borrow $15,000 from the bank, but when he was denied he borrowed the money from Lonnie Merren, who owned a steel building erection company. Kevin Restrom gave the money, in cash, to Jimmy Collins and within ten days Collins returned with $22,500, in cash, and gave it back to Restrom, who gave Lonnie Merren a thirty-five percent return on the loan. When Collins told Kevin Restrom he could continue to do fifty percent return deals, Restrom went back to Merren and borrowed more money. Restrom then introduced Merren to Collins and told him Merren was his "money man". Redstrom then learned from Merren that the real "money man" was Mario Armas, who was a Rome pawn shop owner. After the second transaction of $20,000 and before a third transaction of $30,000, Armas, Merren, and Restrom met at a local cigar shop so Armas could ask Restrom about Jimmy Collins, since in his words "it was starting to be a lot of money." After the third deal, Armas wanted to meet Jimmy Collins, and they met on Armas' boat on Lake Allatoona and Collins confirmed to Armas that it was the marijuana business that he was investing in. The amounts of the transactions rose and after ther fourth or fifth transaction of $500,000 Collins only returned the interest and told them he was "rolling over the principal for the next deal." After he recieved another $500,000, Collins did not retrun any money. He told them that two of his associates had been kidnapped in Arizona and he had to use the money to gain their freedom. After a long period of no one being able to get in touch with Collins, Armas, Lonnie Merren, and "two big black guys" drove to the dealership and forced Kevin Restrom to get into the car and drove to quite stretch of road and Armas gave Redstrom five minutes to get Collins on the phone. Redtrom finally got Katti Cash to answer her phone and get Collins on the line, and Armas and Collins spoke and Armas was satisfied and suggested they go to lunch. Restrom declined the lunch invitation and was returned to the dealership. Armas never got his money from Jimmy Collins and so he swore out a warrant for his arrest on theft by conversion and Collins was finally arrested and returned to Georgia. After he was unable to make bail for a second time, Collins agreed to speak to the authorities, leading to the arrest and indictment of Armas, Merren, and Redstrom. Merren pled without even securing a plea deal and was sentenced to 55 months in prison. Armas went on trial and then entered a plea before it was over when he realized he was very likely to get convicted. Kevin Redstrom originally entered a plea, but withdrew it after everyone else pled. The jury did not have that information during the trial. For more information on the case you can visit the excellent website of Teresa Watson at http://www.romenewsbywatson.com/index.php
I was one of the two jurors who held out for conviction on both charges for Redstrom. I believed that there were too things pointing to his guilt to believe they were all coincidental. He admitted to the FBI and DEA agents he was involved in the first transaction, and that he met with Merren and Armas at the cigar store after the second transaction. The testimony from the Haney brothers was that his relationship with Jimmy Collins was purely business related, but everyone from Mario Armas to Mike Bowser seemed to feel that he could get in touch with Collins like they were quite close. Kevin Redstrom was a business man and I really don't think he believed even the first transaction was legitimate and certainly came to realize he was involved in illegal activity , but he was both too scared and too greedy to get out. We believed that Redstrom was basically a pretty good guy who got caught up in this, but things I have found out about him since the trial have changed my mind. I put a lot more credence in Lonnie Merren's testimony than Collins or Armas. He was the closest to Redstrom and he kept using the phrase "Kevin and I" when talking about the exchange of money. I believed him that Restrom was in the hotel room trying to count the money and that they talked about being in the marijuana business and needing to get out. Just because Redstrom continued in the illegal activity mainly out of fear does not in my opinion mean he was not still participating willfully. I waivered over the weekend about my decision, and I went back into the jury room on Monday morning open to changing my mind if my fellow jurors could answer some questions in a way that would sway me. Their answers were insufficient to change my mind. Stating over and over that "we weren't given enough evidence" was not enough, since I obviously believed we had. Maybe I'm jaded, but I just couldn't bring myself to let someone off when I believed he was involved. While I might be wrong, I had to stick to my convictions. I have no reasonable doubt that Kevin Redstrom was guilty as charged.
My perception of Jimmy Collins is that he is a con man and that he will always take the easy way out. He will almost certainly go back to
a life of crime as soon as he finishes his current sentence. The one thing that everyone involved in this case seemed to agree on is that Lonnie
Merren is pitiful. He is a loser from the word go. He said on the witness stand that he is glad to be in prison, since he no longer has to be under the
thumb of Mario Armas and figures he is no longer in deep debt. Mario Armas was described by the prosecution as a character and by the defense
as a thug. Both characterizations strike me as true. Like the prosecution observed, he has definitely seen too many gangster movies and tv shows.
He is certainly colorful and made for an entertaining witness. He kept reiterating throughout his testimony that all he cared about was his money,
and I am positive that is all he really cares about. When he completes his fifteen year sentence, he will probably go back into some business and
make a new fortune.