“In Brazil, my dad was an attorney. And when he came here, he became an entrepreneur. He was big on giving back. And when he passed, people worldwide came to his memorial. He touched a lot of people. He helped an orphanage in Malawi and helped them built a clinic. They named it after him, The Piereck Clinic. And I’m sure no one in Malawi can say it correctly.
I was one of five kids and the son of immigrant parents. I never stressed about college. I didn’t even know college was a thing until later on. And then one day, my dad sat us down and said, ‘listen, the first thing is you guys must go to college; the second thing is I can’t pay for any of you to go to college, so you’re going to have to figure it out yourself. ‘
So that’s when I joined the Army. For me, it was the pathway to get my education paid for and serve simultaneously.
I had an older brother, and he joined. And then, I had another older brother a few years ahead of me. And a recruiter called my house to talk to him. I answered the phone, and we started talking. And then I remembered it when I was trying to figure out how to pay for college. I talked to all the recruiters about all the services. The army gave me the best combination of an interesting job I could do and money for college.
I joined the army as a senior in high school and thought I wanted to be a doctor. I always knew I wanted to help people. That’s how I thought I wanted to help them.
Then I realized the hospital wasn’t the environment for me. But I still had that desire to help people. So when I got out of training, public service had always been big in my life, so I did my Bachelor’s in Public Administration and then Law. It seemed like a good place to have an impact, help people, and get them out of a bind, and that’s how I got here.
My wife was stationed here, so I went to law school at American University in DC.
I was recruited to come down here as a Prosecutor, and for me, Calvert was, and I know it sounds corny, but for me, it was like love at first sight. The people were so nice, and everywhere I went, it was pleasant and beautiful to look at. So I talked to my wife about moving and bought a house here a little later.
I went to Prince George’s County, where I worked on their major crimes unit. And then at Samsung. But that just wasn’t for me.
And then I had a friend of mine whose daughter got in trouble. And I went back to court to help her out, and it felt right. I could start helping people. I’ve represented several victims of domestic violence. I represent a lot of people that are at a hard point in their life. Sometimes I feel like a therapist. There’s just a lot of anxiety throughout the process, which could be very long for people.
As a Calvert prosecutor and major crimes in Prince Georges’s County, you see how things are run. And then you get to this other side, And you’re dealing with the people who have to go through the defense process.
No one likes going to court, but if they feel like the process they went through is fair, their rights were upheld, mitigating circumstances were taken into account, and all people would have gotten the same treatment.
I want to do that. So I have to do my best and focus on the things I can control.
We all have an important role to play. Without the police officers that guard the building, probably something bad could happen; without the clerks, none of the paperwork would be flying through, and the prosecutors, the defense attorneys, everybody has their role.
Mr. Maurice would come in and clean the State Attorney’s offices. I would be there until the moon came out, and I would always stop working and go talk to him; we had good conversations. He was a good man and what he did was important. It was just as important as what I did as a prosecutor as what I did as the legal secretary.
Everybody has their role. I focus on what I can do and control. “