Kenneth F. Eichner, who grew up in Washington, D.C., and spent his life in the courtroom. He served as a deputy district attorney in Prince George’s County, Maryland, at the height of the crack epidemic, where he prosecuted murderers and received the Governor’s Citation for Outstanding Achievement. Then he changed sides, moved to Colorado, and founded a criminal defense firm. Penniless as a defense attorney, Ken started with court-appointed work and went on to represent the Sinaloa Cartel. Over the next three decades, his practice grew to include cases involving presidential candidates, witnesses in congressional hearings associated with Supreme Court justices, and some of the largest criminal cases in the country.
For Janjuree and Kinaree Rose Eichner, and in loving memory of my parents, my grandfather, and Jacob A. Stein, my extraordinary mentor.
Shout out to the phenomenal editing of Autumn Cortright. She is the unsung hero of this project and fortunately accepts full accountability if a joke doesn't land.
And special thanks to editor Tom Jenks for taking time away from the likes of Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth, and Tom Wolfe to help an unknown like me.