# THOMPSON-HAYES: THE INSIDE OUT
## Chapter Forty-Four — The Verdict
The verdict came on a Thursday.
She was in period four when Diana texted: *Jury is back.*
She looked at the notification. She put the phone in her desk.
She finished the class.
At the bell she sat at her desk alone and picked up the phone and opened the news app.
*Richard Ashby Found Guilty on Nine of Twelve Counts. Former Education Official Convicted of Conspiracy, Fraud, and Federal Privacy Violations.*
She read the lede paragraph. She read the sentencing preview — eleven to fifteen years, formal sentencing in sixty days. She read the quote from the federal prosecutor: *today's verdict confirms that no institution, however well-funded or well-connected, is above the law when it comes to the protection of childre
