Veteran journalist and author George Anastasia (seen in the above photo) is covering the federal trial of the Philadelphia doctor accused of operating a pill mill with outlaw bikers for Bigtrial.net.
They were, according to the government, partners in crime, co-conspirators in a pill mill operation that generated millions of dollars in illegal drug sales.
But today they found themselves on opposite sides of a high stakes legal battle. Michael "Tomato Pie" Thompson was on the witness stand in U.S. District Court and Dr. William O'Brien, acting as his own attorney, was firing questions in a cross-examination that touched on strippers, Pagans, murder, kidnapping and the Dr. Seuss' children's classic "The Cat in the Hat."
Thompson, 50, a South Philadelphia tow truck operator, has been outed during the trial as a police informant who was feeding information to authorities about the Pagans, the outlaw motorcycle gang that made millions from the pill mill operation.
"You want to hang the Pagans but you don't want them to know it's you," O'Brien asked while questioning Thompson about a lengthy interview he gave to authorities shortly after his arrest in the pill mill case.
Thompson acknowledged that the bikers had at one time put a $5,000 contract out on him and that part of the plot was a plan to kidnap his daughter.
"They wanted to kill me and to get to me they were going to use my daughter," Thompson said.
Thompson, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy and drug dealing charges connected to the current case, has been in custody for the past 11 months. This was his second day on the witness stand. He appeared dressed in a green prison jump suit and frankly admitted that he agreed to cooperate in an attempt to win a reduction in the 10- to 12-year prison sentence he is facing.
He has portrayed himself as a major cog in the pill mill scam, sending patients to O'Brien, paying for their visits and then in turning paying them for the prescriptions O'Brien wrote for oxycodone, methadone, Percocet and Xanax. The drugs were then sold on the streets.
... One of the stranger moments in today's -- or perhaps any -- court session came when O'Brien was questioning Thompson about his plea agreement with the government.
"Have you read it?" O'Brien asked.
When Thompson said he had, O'Brien introduced a copy of "The Cat in the Hat" as evidence and asked Thompson to read page 27. It was unclear what point O'Brien was trying to make. Some in the prosecution camp believe O'Brien mistakenly thought Thompson couldn't read and was trying to embarrass him.. But a member of the defense camp said there would be a clearer understanding of the passage later.
You can read the rest of the piece via the below link:
http://www.bigtrial.net/2016/06/murder-mayhem-and-doctor-seuss-at-pill.html#more
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