Chapter 11 - The Fall of the Vanderpool SyndicateIn early May, the federal trial of Charles Vanderpool and his daughter Celeste concluded with historic, devastating efficiency.
With the unsealed conveyance records from Saint Charles Parish, the decrypted fire marshal reports, and the wire-transfer records from the Cayman accounts, the jury deliberated for less than ninety minutes before returning guilty verdicts on all counts.
Charles Vanderpool was sentenced to consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole at the federal penitentiary in Pollock, Louisiana.
Celeste Vanderpool was sentenced to thirty-two years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, Texas, for corporate extortion, grand larceny, and conspiracy to commit murder.
Their multi-billion-dollar corporate empire, their private luxury yachts, and their historic properties on Saint Charles Avenue were completely liquidated by federal court decree, with eighty percent of the proceeds transferred directly into the Beatrice Delacroix Memorial Hospital.
On the afternoon following the sentencing, Rafferty took Fay down to the newly restored Saint Charles riverfront.
The old, blackened ruins where the infirmary had burned twenty-five years ago had been completely cleared away.
In their place stood a magnificent, four-story medical center constructed from red brick, polished steel, and expansive glass windows overlooking the Mississippi River.
Above the main entrance, carved in gleaming white Vermont marble, were the words:
THE SISTER BEATRICE DELACROIX PEDIATRIC HEALTH CENTER — WHERE THE FLEET COMES HOME.
Rafferty stood beside Fay on the boardwalk, his hand resting gently on her shoulder.
“What do you think, Fay?” he asked softly, looking up at the marble inscription.
May you like
“It’s beautiful, Rafferty,” she whispered, tears of profound peace stinging her eyes. “My mother would have loved it.”
“She is here, Fay,” Rafferty smiled, pulling her close against his side as the warm river breeze ruffled their hair. “Every time an honest child walks through those doors, she will always be here.”
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