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Kevin Riford
In 2019, I—Kevin Riford—was arrested by a corrupt Niagara County Sheriff’s deputy named Nicholas Faso. Within a year, he resigned and quietly moved on to another police department somewhere else in Western New York.
To make a long story short, I was arrested for a mere violation—something so minor that most people would never be handcuffed for it. Normally, you’d receive an appearance ticket and be on your way. But of course, that’s only if you’re not dealing with a corrupt officer and a crooked department. I would request the police body camera and dash camera footage, which would never be provided. Of course this was illegal, as it was exculpatory evidence which could have been utilized to benefit my defense. But, when you have target on your back, as my attorney would later explain, I suppose the law no longer applies.
I hired an attorney based out of Depew, NY—Michael Dwan. From the beginning, Michael had plenty of warnings for my family. One of the first things he said was, “You don’t fuck with the FBI.”
All I had done was report an FBI agent for making disturbing remarks—hardly what I’d consider “messing with the FBI.” But to Michael, even that was crossing a line.
He told my family that I had a target on my back. That my family was in danger. That it was disturbingly easy for the police to ruin my life. He even suggested we should move out of Niagara County—though he admitted that even then, he couldn’t guarantee we wouldn’t be followed.
The question still lingers: Who would be following us?
In another conversation, Attorney Dwan gave my family an impromptu lesson on how the legal system really works. He said the United States “died on 9/11,” referring to the attacks on the Twin Towers. I assume he was pointing to the Patriot Act—legislation that granted the federal government sweeping powers, including the ability to label almost anyone a potential domestic terrorist.
He went on to say that judges are afraid of their own shadow, and that they can’t get elected without the support of police unions. He openly admitted the court system is corrupt. Not long after, Michael Dwan dropped me as a client, citing “irreconcilable differences”—a reason that couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, it seemed more likely that he simply didn’t want to be the one with a target on his back for representing me.