Was Mailed Mass Card a Veiled Threat?

(Hat tip: Amy Welborn)

From The Columbus Dispatch:

The latest controversy in the scandals roiling state politics doesn’t involve a crooked investment or a tainted campaign contribution, but rather a religious card.

Michael W. Lewis, a Cleveland area broker indicted last month on charges he conspired to bribe Terrence W. Gasper, the former chief financial officer at the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation, mailed the card to Gasper on June 23 telling him about a Catholic Mass he arranged in Gasper’s honor.

Lewis said it was an act of kindness for a friend "going through a difficult time." But federal prosecutors say it was an attempt to chill any testimony from Gasper, who has pleaded guilty to corruption charges and is cooperating with authorities — and that sending the card may have violated conditions of Lewis’ release on a $50,000 cash bond.

"The card is a poorly veiled and intentionally ambiguous attempt to intimidate Gasper and, thereby, influence any testimony he may give regarding Lewis at trial," prosecutors wrote in a notice to the court. "The most innocent comment to be made about this inappropriate communication is that is was not accompanied by the typical black rose."

That’s nonsense, said Lewis attorney Roger M. Synenberg, who said Lewis goes to Mass every day and made a caring gesture for a friend he has known for 20 years.

"That’s a very, very overactive imagination by the U.S. Attorney’s Office," Synenberg said. "It’s a Mass card, for crying out loud."

***
Authorities argue that one of the conditions of Lewis’ bond is that he have no contact with anyone who is a witness in the case, and that it was widely reported that Gasper is cooperating.

"No contact means no contact," said U.S. Attorney Greg White of Cleveland.

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My Comments:
Donald R. McClarey, with 24 years of experience as a criminal defense attorney, made this comment at Amy's blog:

It is not unusual for participants in a criminal enterprise when one of them decides to cooperate with the prosecution for other members to send signals to the cooperating member that great bodily harm can result if they testify. These signals can take many forms from obvious threats to more subtle strategems such as a birthday card for a child of the witness with the notation, "Best wishes for your son, he is always in my thoughts." A mass card in this type of situation is not a token of good will.