Samuel L. Sommer - Railroaded: Framed For Murder, Fighting For Justice

RAILROADED published by:

WILDBLUE PRESS

P.O. Box 102440

Denver, Colorado 80250

Publisher Disclaimer: Any opinions, statements of fact or fiction, descriptions, dialogue, and citations found in this book were provided by the author, and are solely those of the author. The publisher makes no claim as to their veracity or accuracy, and assumes no liability for the content.

Copyright 2019 by Samuel L. Sommer and Christopher Jossart

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without the prior written consent of the Publisher, excepting brief quotes used in reviews.

WILDBLUE PRESS is registered at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Offices.

ISBN 978-1-948239-07-3 Trade Paperback

ISBN 978-1-948239-06-6 eBook

Interior Formatting/Book Cover Design by Elijah Toten

www.totencreative.com

DEDICATION

To my late wife, Elaine, who has been my partner through everything. There are no words that can express how I feel.

Ill always thank you for our time together and for memories of unconditional love.

You were my breath of life and gave me the drive to tell this story.

I miss you.

Sam

SPECIAL THANKS

Phil and the late Susan Cirrone for their unwavering friendship

Kelly DuBray for providing the Introduction, poem, and behind-the-scenes research

Kim Jossart for her research and editorial leadership

Benee Knauer for her literary direction and mentorship

The Sommer Children for their bravery and love

The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit

A TIP OF OUR HATS:

Deana Dor

Debra Dor

Ann Marie Ganizier

Jill Goldstein

Jane Kepoghen

Corey Kilgannon

The Honorable Robert Levy

Andrew Metz

Frank Morano

Karen Oesterle

Joe Scibilia

Joe Scibilia, Jr.

Leonard Sparks

Calvary Chapel, Appleton, Wisconsin

City Bar Justice Center, New York City

St. Johns Law Library

WildBlue Press Team

Sam and Chris

INTRODUCTION

This is the real life story of how an innocent family was destroyed by members of society with power. As Jews we have been targets of hate and oppression for generations, but this story takes that discrimination to a new level.

It speaks volumes when you consider my great grandfather escaped Nazi-occupied Europe at the age of nine after his parents and siblings were all killed. As poor kids who grew up in the Bronx, no one expected our grandparents, or any of us for that matter, to make anything out of life for ourselves. If the Series of Unfortunate Events didnt already exist, it could serve as the title of our family story.

This book is a story of police brutality, corruption, discrimination, abuse of power, and the effects it put on an innocent family. My grandfather, Mr. Samuel Sommer, was an innocent man who lost over half his life incarcerated on false pretenses. Ive grown up my whole life being judged and told it was because my grandfather was a murderer. My mother, aunts, uncles, cousins, even my grandmother, Elaine Sommer, all went through the same experiencessome worse than others.

To some he was Mr. Sommer, to others he was Sam, to his wife, Elaine, he was Beb, to his seven loving children he was dad, and to me, my two siblings, and my seventeen cousins he was grandpa. The New York State Department of Corrections had a different name for him. To them he was inmate #71A0141.

This is America, land of the free, home of the brave, where every citizen is deemed innocent until proven guilty. Well thats what the politicians, judges, police, and fellow civilians want you to think. As of recent, DNA testing has aided in overturning many guilty convictions. After three decades of imprisonment and slander against an honest business mans name, he is still disallowed the use of DNA testing. All the evidence against him has been lost by the same people who placed him behind bars, the Suffolk County Fourth Precinct Homicide Department.

My grandfather wasnt the only one who got shafted by being pinned with this murder charge. My grandmother needed to find a way to survive and raise seven children completely on her own. My mother, aunts, and uncles never had a father around to help them maneuver their day-to-day lives, teach them to ride a bike, to fish, not a thing that couldnt be explained during a prison visit.

We grandkids didnt have a normal grandfather experience either. I do not believe that my grandpa ever had the pleasure of meeting any of his grandchildren for the first time outside of a prison visiting room until at least 1998 when he was around sixty-two.

Most of us are claustrophobic and suffer from paranoia (especially towards authority figures), high anxiety, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Loud noises will forever make us jumpy. Our first loud noises were the prison gates closing behind us at the beginning of every visit. The loud noises meant yes because we get to finally see grandpa! They also meant we were trapped in a maximum security facility with bad men and no escape.

Mr. Samuel Sommer, the person who identified the victim in the morgue for police, has been the one convicted of murdering Mr. Irving Silver. You may wonder while page turning through this story why my grandfather was asked to identify the victim. First, Mr. Silver was my grandfathers business partner, but thats not all he was. Mr. Silver was a part of our family. He was my grandmother Elaines uncle.

Mr. Silver was a good business partner and a wonderful family member. That said, Im sure everyone can relate to the fact that most families have their own idiosyncrasies. Mr. Silver had an addiction; he loved to gamble. Unfortunately for him he wasnt a very lucky man. He dabbled in various gambling rings and owed thousands of dollars to many people.

During the 1960s the Italian Mafia ran many parts of New York City. They put police officers, judges, and politicians on their payroll with personal interests in mind. The mobsters also ran a number of other underground and aboveground activities including racketeering, illegal gambling rings, cat houses, and trying to create a labor union for garbage collectors. Their full influential reach has still to this day never been determined.

My grandpa was an honest businessman who didnt partake in any such activity. Since he was Mr. Silvers business partner, the police just assumed my grandfather had him killed to keep his own business interests intact. They werent interested in using any more manpower to solve the case.

The State denied our family a husband, a father, a father-in-law, and a grandpa for all of our entire childhood lives and part of our adulthood as well. Even after being released from prison, he had an unreasonable amount of time on parole. This prevented him from doing things like joining family members for dinner at certain times, attending concerts and athletic events, and many other opportunities to bond with his family because of a parole curfew. Ill never forget the day my grandpa was FREED.

I was twenty-four years old when my grandfather happily handed me a legal paper. I gazed down and read the entire document before I looked back up.

Grandpa, I paused cautiously. I dont understand what this means.

He smiled even brighter. He pointed to a sentence and read it aloud. Then he glanced at me to gage my reaction, which was still bewilderment and confusion.

Kel, this is the paper Ive waited for what seems like forever, he said with a dose of emotion. I am finally free! No more suffering, no more parole, no more visits. I am finally free to live my life as I should have been able to for the last forty-two years.