Tuesday marks the one-year anniversary of the raid on multiple Pilot Flying J properties. Since then, 10 employees of the company have pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges, and prosecutors continue to systematically climb the ladder.
The lawyer representing the man perched on the top rung strongly believes that the charges won’t reach quite that high.
“There’s got to be a factual predicate for there to be an indictment,” Aubrey Harwell told WKYC.com. “I know of no facts for there to be that basis for charges against Mr. Haslam.”
(Even if Harwell were aware of such facts, chances are he would publicly deny it.)
Harwell realizes that, regardless of what happens with Haslam, more charges will be filed.
“My guess is, there will be several more that will be charged,” Harwell said. “In my view, there is always, given the facts such as this, the possibility of the company being charged. I have no knowledge of what’s going to happen, but that’s a possibility.”
By the second anniversary of the raid, Harwell anticipates that the case will be closed.
“I would be hopeful that by a year from now this would be over and done with,” Harwell said.
He may be right, but prosecutors will undoubtedly continue to climb the ladder as high as they can. And for the same reasons Harwell doesn’t know what will happen with the others who may be charged, he ultimately doesn’t know what will happen when it comes to the question of whether the feds will make a run at Haslam.