Earl Jones (who I mentioned here) was sentenced yesterday to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty; he defrauded 158 clients of $50 million dollars. It's not muich when you look at the likes of Bernie Madoff, but it is a chunk of change. The man is despicable, he found lots of his "clients" in nursing homes or he preyed on the dying or their bereaved families. He ruined is own brother fer chrissake. That's sick...
So he got eleven years. Problem is, in Canada that translates to about 22 months, what with the fact that he'll have to to 1/6th of his sentence and time already served counts double. He could be free after 22 fucking months.
His lawyer had the gall to say that it was much worse than that, that his sentence is to be alone, his family is gone, he has no friends. He is sentenced to be alone. Fuck off, his solitude is a result of his behaviour. It's his own damn fault and not part of his sentence.
The judge, on the other hand, had no choice, she was applying the law.
I can't help but wonder if this type of situation has anything to do with the fact that more and more people in Canada think the death sentence isn't such a bad idea.
Or maybe politicians want to be sure that the financial gurus, those who finance them aren't in too much of a bind if they are arrested - but that's a cynical view even by my standards.
There are more and more of these "victimless" crimes. And the perpetrators pretty much have a get out of jail free card. The whole concept of the punishment fitting the crime has been tossed straight out the window in this country.
Unless I'm the one being punished of course. In that case, lenient would definitely be the way to go. Except I'm to lazy get into a life of crime...
14 comments:
it's a shame isn't it? it can be argued that crimes like this that involve stealing from others cause more crimes than drugs or alcohol. the long reach of stealing a family's life-savings could never be put to a ruler, but yeah - this guy is a scumbag
22 months for $50 million? Not bad rate of return. Was all the cash retrieved or has he a stash somewhere. The message is obvious: it's worth trying this sort of crime because, hey, if you get caught it ain't so bad.
Are they making him repay the money or does he get to keep it all? Because i'm thinking 11 years in prison, plenty of time to read and if there was 50million at the end of it? Yeah ok i'm not cut out for a life of crime either but still.
A lack of phsycial harm does not a victim-less crime make. It's absurd that he's only getting 22 months.
22 months for destroying the lives of 158 families (which is much more than most violent crimes ever manage to acheive!)?
Outrageous! The cynic is me says "well, what can we expect in a plutocracy?" (Which as an aside is the natural consequence of capitalistic 'democracies'.--dont let me get started on that.)
Hardly victimless. Puffing a bit of marijuana, or maybe engaging a prostitute - that's victimless. These snake-oil salesmen have more victims than most wars. They include not only the people defrauded, but almost the entire tax-payer base of your country. They are miserable bastards who should receive no pity.
(I was going to tell you how I really felt, but decided to go soft on them :-) )
He should have gotten more, the slimy bas..rd!
Bernie Maddoff doesn't compare, but you're right. I don't like the death penalty. Perhaps we should demand tougher penalties for crimes of this kind since they are not in fact victimless...
Far too short for a bit of excreta like him. He should get what ole Bernie got. But, knowing Canadian jurisprudence, I'm surprised he didn't get a conditional in lieu of time.
People have to be a lot more careful and less greedy about who they invest with. I don't know the particulars of this guy's case, but I have a hard time feeling too sorry for people who will give their money to some guy with a smooth line because he holds out promises of great returns on their money. Yes, your money doesn't do much for you in the bank or in some safe fund, but it also won't run away. Of course, the slimeballs who take advantage of people's desire to do a little better for themselves should be punished. But in general what you think of as your money doesn't really seem to belong to you anyway. The federal government stole $30 billion from the public service pension fund in 1999 to pay down the national debt. (That's still before the courts, I believe). Now they're telling us that they want to slash the pensions we've contracted for and been paying to because of the current deficit. And the general public thinks that's okay. So this all helps foster and "every man out for himself" attitude toward financial crime. Thank you and good night.
Fuball - Scumbag. Yep.
DD - The cash was never retrieved. He says it was all spent. I think if he was intelligent enough to get away with it for as long as he did, he's got a nest egg stashed away somewhere.
Hagel - He says it was all spent...
SAW - Absurdity is the middle name of the Canadian sentencing system.
Rachel - go cynic!
Sully - Good of you to hold back
Gaelyn - Shoulda maybe but you're in Canadia here
e - I'm not for the death penalty either. But I think the Canadian justice system metes out ridiculously lenient sentences
Ian - indeed
XUP - As I had said in my previous post on him despite what his victims might say, they do have their part of responsibility in this. He wasn't even board certified. Call me paranoid but there's no way I would invest with someone who isn't backed by a known and respected financial institution. As for the government slashing pensions, the whole idea is despicable. Those of you who have pensions have been paying for them, and whether it's government or private companies, slashing pensions is just as wrong as anything Jones ever did. As for those $30 billion, I don't even want to go there... But a the government or the big corporations won't ever go to jail for their crimes. Gotta love impunity.
He doesn't get to come out of jail and have all that money I hope. I guess we can all just hope that his life will suck.
His sentence is to be alone? As if a person who can coldly ruin people financially has meaningful relationships to lose?
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