‘You don’t know who you are messing with’

You know Rick Mariano, right? Heavyset thin guy, City Council member, recently indicted for taking bribes? That’s him eating at left. Well, wouldn’t you know it, but right after he got indicted, he fired an aide, Anna A. Davila, who cooperated with authorities in their investigation. And now she’s suing, in a shocker to everyone.

Mariano’s lawyer says that Davila “was not performing up to par, and not in reality taking care of the constituents the way she should have.” And that’s all well and good. But check out a transcript of her testimony the Inquirer obtained:

According to a transcript of her testimony obtained by The Inquirer, Davila said Mariano “called me into the room [and] said that it shouldn’t be hard for me, take $100 and pay for this. I said, ‘Councilman, he’s offered me $200, $500. He’s actually buying me to do this for him and I don’t feel like I should.’ And he said ‘He’s compensating you in a good way. Why are you not doing this? What is so bad about doing this? You can’t even do your job right. You just don’t understand. It’s all about getting the right people at the right time.’”

According to a FBI summary of an account Davila later gave agents, Mariano threatened her later by saying, “You don’t know who you are messing with.”

Oh, Ricky. You understand politics better than I ever will.

Ex-Mariano aide files suit against councilman, city [Inky]