In a strange twist, Dad had befriended the son of New Mexico Senator Joe Montoya the year before and spent time at the senator’s house. When Dad discovered that Senator Montoya was disturbed by his son’s ongoing, embarrassing antics, he exploited the situation, as he always did. Dad offered to keep the son’s name out of the headlines in exchange for a job on the senator’s Environment and Public Works Committee. Only my dad could have gone from a maximum-security prison to a prestigious position in the Senate.
