Roundabout Justice

They got Capone on tax evasion and he died a broken syphilis-ridden wreck. In this case, we'll take it:

• Drug dealer Jason “J-Rock” Austin was locked up in Cook County Jail for allegedly killing an off-duty Chicago cop and his female friend while they sat in an SUV on the West Side.
  
  But that didn’t stop the feared gang leader from reaching out to his family and friends on jail phones, the feds say.
  
  And one by one, witnesses who pointed to Austin in the 2008 murders of Roberto Soto and his friend, Kathryn Romberg, suddenly changed their stories.
  
  The triggerman wasn’t Austin at all — but a drug-dealing rival, some of the witnesses said.
  
  Others said the cops beat them to lie about Austin, even going so far as to sue the Chicago Police Department.
  
  Some got rides to the grand jury from Austin’s brother, Bubba, who wasn’t shy about showing off his gun.
  
  And one woman who didn’t change her story got punched with a padlock by one of Austin’s girlfriends.
  
  “You better stop trickin’ on J-Rock,” she warned, the feds say.
  
  As the witnesses’ accounts collapsed, the prosecution fell apart, and Austin walked out of jail a free man less than a month after his arrest.

Now the feds have this piece of excrement convicted dead-bang on dope charges that will get him 40 years if the judge follows the recommendations. This one was a long time coming. One thing that would make it better was if everyone who participated in the intimidation got a few years in the pen, too.