News FeedWhite Collar Prosecutions on Wall Street
The financial turmoil on Wall Street will likely bring many traders, hedge fund managers, and corporate executives to federal prison. Prosecutors will want to make a statement. They speak loudest by targeting high-profile, white collar offenders, for federal criminal indictments. When grand juries or prosecutors make those criminal charges, prison terms will follow.
I’ve been incarcerated for more than 21 years, and I’ve seen this pattern before. When I began my term, in 1987, prosecutors needed to show that they were the frontline soldiers fighting Reagan’s war on drugs. Prison populations soared.
Today, the world is riled up about white collar crime, about options scandals, about fraudulent investment vehicles that improperly failed to disclose risks, about fraud of every type and magnitude. Calming the markets will require new legislation, as we’ve seen this past week with government bailouts on an unprecedented scale. A second prong of the government’s effort to restore investor confidence, however, will come in the form of federal criminal charges against professionals who never dreamed that they would suffer through the indignities of a criminal indictment or prosecution.
When prosecutors charge businessmen with white collar crimes, those professionals frequently exacerbate their problems. Rather than accepting responsiblity early and minimizing their exposure to sanctions, many cling to excuses and denials. They lie to family members, their business associates, their defense attorneys, and the government. The more lies they tell, the more costly their losses. Those who become exposed to the criminal justice system for the first time frequently fail to appreciate the magnitude of their problems.
Emerging successfully from a collison with the criminal justice system requires knowledge and advance preparation. At MichaelSantos.net, partners of mine publish information that could assist those accused of white collar crime, or anyone who may be facing criminal indictment, make better decisions. The Topical Reports and Articles posted there describe solid strategies for navigating the criminal justice system successfully.
Understanding the American system of prosecutors, criminal courts, and federal prisons is crucial in order to work effectively with defense attorneys and prepare for the possibility of serving time in a federal prison camp.
