Matty Moroun in court January 12, 2012. Photo by Joel Thurtell.
By Joel Thurtell
Matty’s out of stir.
It was great to see this arrogant, rich SOB led off to the hoosegow.
I was astounded that it actually happened.
Normally, Matty and his legion of lawyers stall and squirm and twist so long they wear their opponents down.
If he can only keep the clock running, his chances of having his way, of somehow changing the game by throwing wads of money at the board, will never wholly disappear.
Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards. Photo by Joel Thurtell.
I assume by today, January 14, 2012, Matty is back in his Grosse Pointe Farms mansion eating a sumptuous breakfast and chuckling over that silly judge who thought he could pin down a wily billionaire.
It’s a new day for Matty.
The Michigan Court of Appeals ordered his release late Friday afternoon, January 13, 2012.
Matty’s chief henchman and fall guy, Dan “The Rubber” Stamper, also was to be released from the Wayne County Jail.
A day earlier, Wayne County Circuit Judge Prentis Edwards ordered the pair jailed until they could satisfy him that they were complying with his nearly two-year-old order to stick to the construction timetable and work projects in their contract with the Michigan Department of Transportation for improving vehicular approaches to Matty’s Ambassador Bridge.
Rather than progress toward the agreed-upon goals, the judge was seeing a huge stalling action backed up by bullshit from those lawyers of Matty’s.
Maybe two years seemed like no time to an 84-year-old trucking mogul.
Apparently, it seemed a wee bit unresponsive to the judge.
After listening to lengthy arguments from lawyers for Matty and The Rubber about why the two should not be shipped to the crapper, Edwards sent them off to be finger-printed and issued their jail suits.
Now that he’s had a taste of jail fare — chicken steak rather than the baloney sandwich I had hoped for — will Matty set his minions to work and do what MDOT wants done?
Namely, tear down his lucrative duty-free store and gas pumps to make way for ramps leading from highways to the bridge?
Or will Matty’s new-found freedom — and his legal crew’s success at springing him so quickly — prompt Matty to sit back, relax and pursue his old behavior of stalling and blowing smoke?
My guess?
The judge said it best: Coercion is the language Matty speaks.
Coercion is the only language Matty understands.
How will those ramps get finished?
One way: with Matty behind bars.
Next time, feed him a baloney sandwich!
Drop me a line at joelthurtell@gmail.com
