Mike Wyatt is, by trade, a master mechanic. He’s an artisan of all things auto who transforms factory features on vehicles into customized pieces for car and stereo enthusiasts alike. A hard-working small business owner, Wyatt spends 60-90 hours a week at his Jefferson Street auto and sound shop, a 9,000-square-foot haven for a specialized craft he’s been perfecting for more than 20 years. Mike Wyatt is 44 years old and has no criminal record. He’s a family man, the husband of a nurse practitioner, a father who spends his weekends outdoors with his wife and son. And now, Mike Wyatt may spend the next 10 years in a federal prison — and the rest of his life paying up to $4 million in fines to the federal government. On July 20, 2006, a few minutes after B&M Auto Sound and 4x4 opened at 9 a.m., federal agents armed with assault rifles stormed the local business, searching every person, every vehicle and every inch of the building. A few months later, Wyatt was indicted by a federal grand jury, accused by the U.S. government of conspiring with 12 other people to traffic mass amounts of cocaine and marijuana from South Texas to Lafayette over a four-year period. His role? The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana claims Wyatt installed secret compartments for a group of customers who used them to stash drugs, guns and money as they crossed state lines. The feds have never said Wyatt ever possessed drugs, distributed illegal substances or dealt with proceeds from drug transactions. If convicted, Wyatt’s prison time could be close or equal to that of the kingpin who’s pleaded guilty to leading the lucrative drug ring. What’s even more compelling than the seemingly excessive charges against Wyatt is that hidden compartments are legal to possess and install under federal law and in most states, Louisiana included. The hideaways can be used to store almost anything — purses, jewelry, guns, valuables — and are just one small component of services — wheels, speakers, TVs, etc. — that a business like B&M provides. No doubt, hidden compartments are problematic for law enforcement officials working to combat heavy drug traffickers. An FBI bulletin published on its website in October 2010 examines the use of hidden compartments and outlines the very limited legal measures available to punish the installers. Because there is no federal law “specifically addressing the design, manufacture or use of a trap ... charges must be addressed through a statute dealing with drug paraphernalia.” According to the FBI circular, investigators trying to secure a criminal charge for an installer must prove that the suspect in question designed the compartment knowing it would be used for illegal purposes. To prove such knowledge, the FBI bulletin says the investigation involves more than just physical evidence linking the target to the installed trap. The procedure, according to the FBI, also calls for recorded conversations between the installer and an undercover agent or informant, “in which the suspect is placed on notice that the device will be used for concealing a controlled substance.” Yet as the government continues on its mission to link the secret compartments to Wyatt’s widespread conspiracy to distribute drugs he never possessed, his case highlights a hidden playbook of the federal government’s own secret maneuvers that raise allegations of government misconduct — and unveil a choir of convicts contaminating the judicial process in exchange for a “Get Out of Jail Free” card.