The Watermark Conspiracy

The Watermark Conspiracy: a Trilogy takes the reader on a personal journey of a prominent local politician who makes his mark on the national scene. Jim Coyne attempts to prove a conspiracy of sorts with the IRS, the FBI, the White House, the FAA, a major newspaper, national Republicans, local Democrats, local Republicans, US attorneys, federal judges, and US senators.

Watermark test results by the FBI to determine the year of manufacture of paper are withheld from Coyne for twenty-four years, despite the fact that he filed numerous freedom of information requests over that period of time. The response by the federal government was that they do not exist and they cannot be located, when in fact they knew all along the name of the contracted testing company, the individual who did their testing, the president of the company, and the address of the company.

Coyne takes us on this watermark quest in order to attempt to prove his innocence. Coyne touches on other areas of his personal life: his experience with the oldest Democratic political machine in the country; escaping from death at the Dupont Plaza fire in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on December 31, 1986 and who he thinks were responsible; his experience in the Baden Baden Casino in Germany; horse racing; life in federal prisons; and finally freedom.

Click HERE to view the author's interview with Times Union!

-- Jim Coyne