Nesto Monell's Story

:: Read letters from Nesto ::

Letter from a friend printed in the Taunton Sunday Gazette, 2005

The following letter was sent to and subsequently published in the Taunton Sunday Gazette in 2005, six months after Nesto was arrested and charged with "trafficking in cocaine, possession of marijuana, carrying a firearm without a license, possession of a firearm of large capacity, improper storage of a firearm and conspiracy to violate drug laws."

The letter was written by a fellow soldier and friend of Nesto's who writes about him from a personal perspective. Nesto had been in jail since April 2005 and was recently released on bail after 3 years, 2 weeks, and 20 days, so that he may prepare for his trial.

Letter to the editor:

My friend, Nesto Monell, is in jail. He has been locked-up inside of the Bristol County Sheriff’s office for over six months now for a crime your paper reported in April. In fact, it was that very article that led me to find him.

You see, I served with Nesto Monell for the 4 years leading up to his arrest on 3 April 05. We were stationed at Ft. Bragg together in Delta Company 50th Signal Battalion, 35th Signal Brigade (US Army). We were paratroopers together, jumping out of Air force C130 airplanes during the week for the pride of being part of an elite unit, and to do more to serve our country. Before 9/11 our country had all but forgot that people like us existed.

We wore those uniforms well and donned those red airborne berets with pride. Monell was right next to me listening to the radio when the first plane crashed into the World Trade Center; and we were shoulder to shoulder that afternoon when we were briefed that our unit was volunteered to “go in” first.

I remember Monell passed a look to me, a confident teasing look that only soldiers can have, and said “Well, let’s pack our (expletive). You aren’t scared are you Eric?” It’s just that kind of guy he was.

Our motto in our unit was “Key to Command” and Monell was the personification of this motto. It wasn’t odd to see him putting in extra time pulling duty on the weekends leading up to our departure so that his soldiers could go home before going to war. He knew they were scared and, being the leader that he was, he did what he could.

Monell and I were stationed in Bagram, Afghanistan. For seven months we were in a combat zone in South East Asia fighting someone we couldn’t usually see. It wouldn’t be an odd occasion to wake up at one or two in the morning to piercing sirens and exploding mortars. Monell never complained. He was a through and through leader and set the example of braveness.

I was amazed when he told me about the re-occurring dreams that he would have. He told me he would wake up to family and friends welcoming him back home; only to find that they had no explanation of how he got there. He would eventually conclude, each night that he was dead — that a mortar had in fact struck our tent while we slept. He told me that he could never wake up from these dreams.

Only go to sleep in the dream to wake up in a different version of the same. These dreams were especially bad when he took his malaria medication.

When we did finally return home, it was something. The music from the 82nd Band began to play when we were walking across the tarmac towards the friends and family that were supporting us. Then the music stopped midway. We were not the 82nd Airborne Division. And Nesto and myself had no family waiting on us. We smoked one (cigarette) while joking about how different the air smelled in the United States; even if we were on an Air Force Base. Glad to be home.

Anyone who has served their country in any branch of the military understands the comfort and personal satisfaction we felt.

One month after leaving the military, Monell was charged with possessing a large amount of cocaine and weapons, neither of which were his. It was in your paper that I came to find him once I moved to the area. Allegedly, the cocaine belonged to some “bad choice” friends whose parents were financially capable enough to post bail.

Monell’s bail was raised to $50,000 because his “military training” had made him a more “dangerous” person. His next court date will fall on his 25th birthday and he still does not have a lawyer. He has no money. He cannot afford one. If all goes as planned, he may spend the rest of his young life in prison. I am asking the people of his hometown of Taunton a favor.

Please help my friend get a fair trial. Please write, pray, or offer him support as he braces for what is to come. Please help my friend who helped defend you when you needed it. He wouldn’t ask you. It’s just the kind of guy he is.

Eric LePage
Taunton

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