Harsh words and high salaries were on display Wednesday when five former Blackwater executives made their first appearance in federal court on weapons charges, according to an account from my colleague Sarah Ovaska.
The fireworks were between Assistant U.S. Attorney Bowler and former Blackwater president Gary Jackson.
Bowler hammered Jackson for allegedly falsifying federal documents: "It is just
another display of sheer arrogance and scofflaw attitude."
Bowler also mentioned that Jackson had been making an annual salary of $1.5 million - and that Bowler understood that Jackson's severance package included that annual salary for five years.
Jackson's lawyer, Ken Bell, said that ain't so. Jackson is getting $425,000 a year for five years, starting in 2009.
Joe Neff came to The N&O in 1992 and has covered prisons, police, courts and the legislature. His most recent major work was "Agents' Secrets," a four-part series about problems in the N.C. State Bureau of Investigation. He can be reached at 
Comments
High Salary?
Fri, 04/23/2010 - 18:39 — deanfvJoe,
Your energies are misguided and you are showing your ignorance... A man running a billion dollar company should make $1 million plus per year. Let's see... $1.5 million is 0.15% of 1 billion!!! Haahahahhaahaahaahhahaah.... I'm sure the math is lost on you but when you work yourself into a position where you are running a Billion dollar revenue company, call me with your pay demands. I'm sure you'll work for $250k per year.
Sorry but that is life in the big city and there are plenty of guys running smaller defense services companies making far more money than Gary Jackson. Check DynCorp out! Oh... Check Goldman Sach out.
We have Goldman Sachs paying third year associates 7 figures salaries to sell bullshit securities to unsuspecting and uneducated municipalities and pension fund managers. Meanwhile they are shorting the same securities off of another sales desk, secrewing everyone AND collecting fees. Hahahahhaaa... those guys are making bank and laughing in your Progressive faces because they gave a little scratch to Obama's campaign. Jokes on you, you dope.
Your energies are misguided.
As for Blackwater, ask anyone who works for State Department who they want covering their tail when they roll outside the Greenzone. If you want to live, roll with BW.
Who is more evil?
Thanks for the effort, but you are missing the big picture.