Cigarettes - Just How Much Are They Worth? And, I’m Not Talking About the Boat!

According to an inmate in the Federal Correctional Complex in Beaumont, Texas - apparently the answer to that question was - A BUNCH!

Based on information presented in court, SHAMEECK ADUNDA FILLS, age 31, accepted a bribe, and agreed to accept another bribe, in exchange for providing the inmate with tobacco, a prohibited item in prison. FILLS was employed as a Correctional Officer at the prison in 2006 when she accepted an $800.00 bribe and agreed to accept another bribe of $2000.00 in exchange for providing the inmate with tobacco.

O.K., I know that tobacco is supposed to be addictive, but based on what inmates make - that’s a lot of money for cigarettes!

FILLS was convicted of two counts of receiving a bribe and agreeing to receive a bribe from an inmate at the Federal Correctional Complex. FILLS had been previously indicted by a Federal Grand Jury on September 6th, 2007. She faces a maximum punishment of up to fifteen years in prison, a $250,000.00 fine and three years of supervised release on each count of conviction.

Every choice has a consequence! How often I say this in the blogs I write or the presentations I make. As a white collar crime and ethics speaker, I know full well the effect of choices that one can make. Having made bad choices in my past and spent time in federal prison as a result, I know that you do reap what you sow. Likewise, I understand that good choices can yield outstanding consequences.

FILLS may find that she’ll get her fill (pardon the pun) by spending time in federal prison. Perhaps during that stay, (if it happens) she’ll get a chance to explore whether the short term gain was worth the long term consequences.

Your comments welcome!

20 Minutes and a Guilty Verdict! James Fantroy Former Dallas City Council Member Found Guilty

Some predicted a long trial and hung jury - WRONG! In just 20 minutes a federal jury in Dallas, Texas convicted James L. Fantroy, Sr., a former Dallas City Council Member of embezzlement.

Seems that Fantroy, who also was a former member of the Board of Directors and Treasurer of Paul Quinn College community Development Corporation, embezzled funds from monies that were held in trust for Paul Quinn College.

In 1998, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) approved Paul Quinn College for a $250,000 Historical Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) grant. The college hired Paul Quinn CDC to assist in administering the grant, which included the revitalization of the college’s surrounding area. Paul Quinn College entered into a real estate management agreement with Paul Quinn CDC establishing Paul Quinn CDC as the manager of the Highland Hills Shopping Center, a property owned by Paul Quinn College. It required Paul Quinn CDC to deposit all rental receipts it collected, less any sums properly deducted or otherwise provided for in the agreement, into a trust account for the benefit of Paul Quinn College.

From August 2000 through June 7, 2002, Paul Quinn College received eight disbursements totaling approximately $222,853 from HUD, pursuant to the HBCU grant. During the one year period beginning April 1, 2003, Paul Quinn College received funds from a second HBCU grant, totaling more than $10,000.

The government presented evidence at trial that from April 26, 2003, through July 30, 2003, James L. Fantroy, Sr., acting as an agent for Paul Quinn College, embezzled approximately $21,000 in monies held in trust for Paul Quinn College.

Fantroy faces up to 10 years in federal prison along with a $250,000 fine. He will be sentenced May 21st, 2008.

As a white collar crime and business ethics speaker, I know first hand the impact that choices have. And, as I state to most audiences, every choice has a consequence. The strange thing is - most who make choices like this somehow think that they will get by with the cover up. But you do reap what you sow and there is no hiding from the consequences of the choices you make.

Easter 2008 - Facts or Fiction About Dates!

While most of my blog postings are related to choices and consequences - there are times when it’s fun to try something a bit different. So for those who just have to have a fix of trivia - try this on for size.

Easter is early this year. Easter is always the 1st Sunday after the 1st full moon after the Spring Equinox (which is March 20). This dating of Easter is based on the lunar calendar that Hebrew people used to identify Passover, which is why it moves around on our Roman calendar.

Based on the above information, Easter can actually be one day earlier March 22) that is rare.

Here’s the interesting information. This year is the earliest Easter any of us will ever see the rest of our lives! And only the most elderly of our population have ever seen it this early (95 years old or above). And none of us have ever, or will ever, see it a day earlier! Here’s the facts:

1) The next time Easter will be this early (March 23) will be the year 2228 (220 years from now). The last time it was this early was 1913 (so if you’re 95 or older, you are the only ones that were around for that!).

2) The next time it will be a day earlier, March 22, will be in the year 2285 (277 years from now). The last time it was on March 22 was 1818. So, no one alive today has or will ever see it any earlier than this year!

Any other tid bits that would be of interest to the readers…just make a comment which is welcome!

Incarceration Rate Winner? United States - We Incarcerate 1 in 100 Citizens! Is That Something to be Proud Of

One out of every 100 U. S. adults is in jail or prison. That is a startling statistic and not something to be proud of - in fact, it’s down right embarrassing.

According to the Pew Report, cited here, (The Pew Charitable Trusts applies the power of knowledge to solve today’s most challenging problems. Pew’s Center on the States identifies and advances effective policy approaches to critical issues facing states) Three decades of growth in America’s prison population has quietly nudged the nation across a sobering threshold: for the first time, more than one in every 100 adults is now confined in an American jail or prison.

As startling as the one in one hundred statistic is - these next facts are shocking and deserve the attention of our society at large.

For some groups, the incarceration numbers are especially startling. While one in 30 men between the ages of 20 and 34 is behind bars, for black males in that age group the figure is one in nine. Gender adds another dimension to the picture. Men still are roughly 10 times more likely to be in jail or
prison, but the female population is burgeoning at a far brisker pace.

As a white collar crime speaker, and one who is part of the statistic above (as I’ve been incarcerated), I understand that every choice has a consequence. Likewise, I do believe that you reap what you sow. However, there are those whose crimes should warrant some form of alternative punishment rather than incarceration.

Prison is big business - make no mistake. In many areas the inmate population supports the governments infrastructure. In my case, I was an inmate at a minimum security facility located on an airforce base. We (the inmates) were used to perform tasks that otherwise would have either been contracted out to civilian employees or been done by airforce personnel themselves. We were effective cheap labor.

Lawmakers are learning that current prison growth is not driven primarily by a parallel increase in crime, or a corresponding surge in the population at large. Rather, it flows principally from a wave of policy choices that are sending more lawbreakers to prison and, through popular “three-strikes” measures and other sentencing enhancements, keeping them there longer.

While I do believe in punishment and deserved what I got - so I have no axe to grind here - it is true that “tough on crime” is politically popular. Can you really imagine any politician saying that prisons are overcrowded and costs each of us too much, so we need to have alternatives so that parole violators don’t go back. If that were said, they would not be elected.

There is much to be digested in the Pew report. I suggest you click on the link above ot read the entire report. Meanwhile, there will be more blog entries as the entirety of the report is covered.

Questions:

• What would you do to reduce the inmate population in the US?
• Since 1 in 100 Americans are incarcerated, what example can you provide in response to this report, that shows a person who should not have been incarcerated?

$34 Million Dollar Payroll Tax Fraud By Texas Nursing Home Executive!

U.S. Attorney Richard Roper said in a recently issued news release, “This case is the one of the largest payroll tax fraud cases ever prosecuted in the U.S. Mr. Trebert admitted evading more than $34 million in payroll taxes - this is nothing short of egregious. Nursing homes should be safe havens for the elderly and vulnerable, not vehicles for criminals to commit fraud.”

Gary R. Trebert, age 57, pled guilty to two counts of an indictment that charged him with various offenses related to his operation of nursing homes in Texas and elsewhere. Co-defendant Larry Gordon May pled guilty to his role in the conspiracy in October 2007 and co-defendant Stephen Michael Ewing, a/k/a “Stephen Michaels,” is scheduled to go on trial March 3, 2008.

Trebert admitted that beginning in August 1999 and continuing though mid-May 2004, he, Stephen Michael Ewing and Larry May conspired together, and with others, to defraud the U.S. by impeding, impairing, obstructing, and defeating the lawful government functions of the IRS in the ascertainment, computation, assessment, and collection of the revenue, that is, nursing facility employees’ withheld income taxes, social security taxes and medicare taxes, and HHS in the administration of the Social Security Act and the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

As part of the conspiracy, Trebert and his coconspirators, using the names of sham corporate entities, obtained control of 70 licensed nursing facilities with thousands of patient beds and thousands of employees. In order to acquire control of these facilities, Trebert, Ewing and May used false statements and false and fraudulent documents including Applications for Nursing Facility License and Medicaid Contracts, Medicare Federal Provider Enrollment applications, ownership documents, IRS Employer Identification Number applications, Health Insurance Benefit Agreements, and Electronic Fund Transfer forms. Their falsifications included falsely identifying relatives as owners, operators, and managers of the nursing homes on the applications; failing to disclose staffing/payroll companies on nursing home applications; failing to disclose Ewing and May as the true owner/operators of nursing homes; and forging names of individuals on filed documents to divert responsibility away from the three defendants. Trebert and his co-conspirators used the false statements and documents to hide from HHS, state licensing and Medicaid agencies, and the IRS, the true control and management of the nursing facilities, their responsibility for more than $200 million in money derived from the nursing homes, and their responsibility for the nursing facilities’ residents.

More than 150 sham staffing/payroll entities, many with foreign business addresses at drop boxes in England and Austria, were created to file Form 941 employer withholding tax returns with the IRS, preventing the IRS from assessing and attempting to collect more than $34 million of unpaid payroll tax liabilities from Trebert, Ewing and May, and creating the appearance that these sham staffing/payroll entities employed more than 4500 nursing facility employees, when they did not. From time to time Trebert caused his coconspirator to fly to London in order to mail to the IRS the sham payroll/staffing companies’ false withholding tax returns.

Trebert admitted that he and his coconspirators diverted to themselves and their personal activities substantial sums of money derived from their nursing home operations and from the non-payment of employees’ withheld payroll taxes. Trebert also admitted that in April 2004, he attempted to evade and defeat the assessment and payment of more than $4,113,000 in withholding taxes taken out of employees’ pay at 42 nursing homes he and his coconspirators controlled.

“Evading employment taxes can have serious consequences for employers and their employees. Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that those who willfully attempt to undermine our tax system by playing fast and loose with the rules will be held accountable, regardless of how complicated a scheme they devise,” said Erick Martinez, IRS Special Agent in Charge for the Dallas Field Office.

In the plea agreement, Trebert will spend 8 years in federal prison. Needless to say, when sentenced, Trebert will also be facing substantial restitution - which he may not be able to repay.

Every choice has a consequence! Regardless of how well thought out, no one will escape the consequences of their choices. As a business ethics and white collar crime speaker, I know from personal experience that you reap what you sow. While Trebert and others got by with their scheme for 5 years, the reality is the consequences of their actions will be far greater than any benefit they received.

Your comments are welcome - as you might have been a victim of this massive scam. But let me leave you with this - before you make a choice consider what is the worst thing that could happen - feel what that would feel like - then make your choice. Trust me, the consequences to negative choices are far worse than any gain you can imagine!

Jailhouse Lawyer Being Investigated - Guess He Ticked Off the South Carolina Attorney General

Just when you think you’ve made history - some “better than thou” Attorney General steps up to put you back down again. Any surprise that this is coming from South Carolina. Somehow I don’t see that as a tolerant state - at least not for Michael Ray!

Michael Ray - not a household name - is a federal inmate in the State of South Carolina. What is significant about Mr. Ray - he helped fellow inmate Lavon Burgess appeal his conviction for possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute. O.K., so Ray is a “jailhouse lawyer” - not a lawyer by license, but a lay person who has a knack for the law.

Oh, but there’s more! The U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on March 24, the appeal where Burgess is arguing that a prior drug conviction prosecutors used to get him the 20-year minimum prison sentence shouldn’t have applied because it was a misdemeanor instead of a felony. Conflicting court rulings have required 10-year sentences for people already convicted of misdemeanors, so a successful appeal could trim Burgess’ sentence in half.

Stop! So let this sink in - a 29 cent an hour felon who is a member of the American Bar Association and a certified paralegal, helped another inmate file an appeal that is being heard by the United States Supreme Court! Is that cool or what?

Stanford University law professor Jeff Fisher will argue Burgess’ case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Legal experts estimate the high court agrees to hear less than 1 percent of the thousands of cases it receives each year.

Now, according to Rauch Wise, a South Carolina lawyer who represents Ray, the authorities are looking into whether Ray is guilty of unauthorized practice, a crime that carries up to two years in prison and a $5,000 fine. South Carolina’s Attorney General Henry McMaster is investigating Ray for practicing law without a license.

Sorry, but McMaster is just wrong - both legally and ethically!

Federal Bureau of Prison regulations state, “an inmate may assist another inmate … with legal research and the preparation of legal documents for submission to a court or other judicial body.” And in his letters, Ray cited a U.S. Supreme Court case he said illustrated rights bestowed upon prison law clerks.

In Johnson v. Avery, the court in 1969 sided with a Tennessee prisoner who argued he had been improperly disciplined for helping another inmate prepare legal documents, ruling that prison officials could not deprive prisoners of such assistance.

A September Ohio Supreme Court decision could foreshadow Ray’s fate, said Michael Frisch, ethics counsel and adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center. The justices narrowly upheld an inmate’s right to draft legal documents for other prisoners because there was no “reasonable alternative” to their services.

As an ethics speaker, I am not proud of my past - I did spend time in federal prison - and if it were not for prison “jailhouse” lawyers, many would have no chance at any reasonable legal representation. Not that all jailhouse lawyers are good, but how, otherwise, would an inmate gain protection of their rights?

Oh…stop. I can hear some saying…what rights? Inmates are inmates and have no rights! Right? Wrong!

What if Burgess is overturned…then with Ray’s help many will find that they will have reduced sentences based on the opinion of the highest court in the land.

My suggestion…leave Ray alone and give him the benefit of seeing where this Supreme Court ruling lands.

Your Comments?

Pedophile (?) Suicide = NBC Emotional Distress Suit! Is This Twisted Justice?

Chris Hansen, investigative reporter from the series “To Catch a Predator” was accompanied by a camera crew and SWAT team on the afternoon of November 5, to the house of a Texas prosecutor, (yes…I said prosecutor), Louis William Conradt, Jr.

The program, aired on NBC, worked with local police departments along with an online watchdog group - Perverted Justice - to lure suspected pedophiles to so-called sting houses - using as bait “decoys” - adults posing as teenage boys.

According to published articles - this one quoted from law.com: Conradt had served for five terms as a district attorney in Kaufman County, Texas, and was an assistant prosecutor in Rockwell County, Texas, when he allegedly contacted a decoy who had been posing online as a 13-year-old boy.

Using this information, police obtained search and arrest warrants for Conradt. Police and “Dateline” cast and crew, including NBC News correspondent Chris Hansen, went to his home in the town of Terrell, Texas, on the afternoon of Nov. 5.

Members of the SWAT team went into the house through a back door and saw Conradt step into a room and say, “I’m not going to hurt anyone.” He then shot himself with a handgun.

A police officer then reported the shooting on camera to Hansen and allegedly said to a “Dateline” producer, “That’ll make good TV.”

So when is it good TV vs. a violation of what is moral and ethical? That is a question apparently to be settled by the courts. Now, Condradt’s sister is suing NBC in the Southern District of New York for $100 million, claiming, among other things, intentional infliction of emotional distress. In rejecting NBC’s 12(b)(6) motion to dismiss, Judge Denny Chin wrote that if the allegations are proved true, a jury could find that “NBC crossed the line from responsible journalism to irresponsible and reckless intrusion into law enforcement.”

According to Bruce Baron, lawyer representing the Conradt family, this “sends a strong message to law enforcement throughout this country: Never subcontract your uniform, badge and the oath you take.”

A spokeswoman for NBC, however, said “the evidence will ultimately show that ‘Dateline’ acted responsibly and lawfully.”

“We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously,” said the spokeswoman, Jennifer Tartikoff. “The judge’s ruling was based solely on the plaintiff’s version of the facts. For purposes of this motion only, the judge was required, under the law, to accept the plaintiff’s allegations as true.”

Again, according to law.com: In its motion to dismiss the complaint for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted, NBC argued that it owed no duty to protect Conradt from killing himself and that its alleged conduct was not “extreme and dangerous” so as to meet the standard under Texas law for intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Judge Chin said he was dismissing many of Conradt’s claims, but the principal claims survived.

“Rather than merely report on law enforcement’s efforts to combat crime, NBC purportedly instigated and then placed itself squarely in the middle of a police operation, pushing police to engage in tactics that were unnecessary and unwise, solely to generate more dramatic footage for a television show,” Chin said.

As an example, the judge said a jury could find “that there was no legitimate law enforcement need for a heavily armed SWAT team to extract a 56-year-old prosecutor from his home when he was not accused of actual violence and was not believed to have a gun, that this was done solely ‘to sensationalize and enhance the entertainment value’ of the arrest.”

In declining to dismiss the emotional distress claim, the judge held that NBC “created a substantial risk of suicide or other harm, and that it engaged in conduct so outrageous and extreme that no civilized society should tolerate it.”

Ethical Choices? As an ethics speaker, this whole issues raises interesting questions. First, assuming Conradt was a pedophile - does his right to minimize a substantial risk of suicide need to be protected? Again, assuming guilt on Conradt’s part, what protections should have been in place to protect the abused children? Should NBC be allowed to sensationalize the process and arrest - ignoring the possible outcomes (including suicide)? If NBC is found guilty, should the proceeds from any award go to compensate the children and families that Conradt abused or harmed?

Comments are welcome!

Convicted Felon - Can You Ever Escape the Stigma?

To groups all around the country, I say the following words - Every choice has a consequence! At times the consequences we face are short lived and often forgotten. But, there are some choices we make in life that have permanent long-lasting implications. They will never be forgotten - we, likewise, cannot hide from their continued effects.

As a Sales Executive for a public company and ethics speaker, I am open about who I am, my past and the lessons I’ve learned. I speak about them often and have found that most people (not all) find hope and inspiration from the words they hear. But, just when I think that the message - you reap what you sow - is beginning to take hold, I get a reply that sends me backward, realizing that no matter how much good you do - someone, somewhere, is standing ready to throw stones.

Today I got a post to one (well…actually all) of the videos that I have posted on YouTube. You can view the video by clicking on the image to the right on your screen. The posting must have been from a disgruntled former employee who felt the need to blame his or her failure on someone other than themselves. Here’s the comment with the foul language removed:

This is incredible! What a crock of XXXX! This guy is a crook and I have reported him to Texas Dept of Insurance as he is getting commissions off agents when he can not be licensed himself. The investigation is going on at present. I worked for this jerk, and he is no more than an ex-con, working for a company that knows his history but continues to keep him on knowing that he embezzled from families and back in the same line of work, only in a different state. This makes me sick!!!!!!!

It is always interesting to me the approach we, as humans take, when we face failure. It continues to ring true, no matter what spin you put on it, every choice has a consequence. In the company where I serve as Sales Exec. I have grown more successful sales execs for the company during my 15 year tenure than any other. Yet, for someone who found this career opportunity not for them, I am a crook. It is truly all a matter of perspective.

To set the record straight - which is a matter of public record - I was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion for crimes which occurred in the mid to late 1980’s. I was a CPA at the time and not in any way associated with the industry to which I serve as a Senior Sales Executive today. I am not proud of my past, but I cannot change it either.

People do ask me if I had it to do over again would I change anything? The answer: yes…I wouldn’t do what I did. Prison is no fun. It was, however, an unusual learning environment. I learned many things but three come to mind:

1. Much of life is an illusion. That is shown in the comment above. It is an illusion to think that one persons failure at a job is somehow the result of my crimes over 20 years ago!
2. Every choice has a consequence. My choices certainly did. Not only did I go to prison, but many relationships I had in my life failed due to my choices and the consequences that followed. It is sad but true and the pain follows to this day.
3. Success comes in many ways. It is not always measured in material possessions, but more times than not measured in the impact that you have on another’s life.

So if there is a part of the above comment that is saddening, it is that the effort that I put into speaking in order to use my experience as an example to help others was somehow lost on this person. You can’t win them all…but perhaps, upon reflection, folks will come to understand that you might make a mistake, but you aren’t a mistake.

God bless. And if I could leave you with one thought it would be: Look past the illusion, make good choices and claim your success!

As always your comments are welcome!

Former NASA Contract Employee Guilty in Child Pornography Case! You Never Know Where They Will Come From!

The internet is a virtual playground for child predators. Parents, for the most part, have no idea what the environment is like and how dangerous it can be for those who need our protection - our children.

Likewise, we never know who the predators are and where they might come from. Often we think of them as the lowest element of society. Yet, sometimes we find that they are rocket scientists!

Ernst John Rohde, 63, a former contract employee at NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California, pleaded guilty on Friday to receiving images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Rohde admitted to having used computers to access images of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct from both the NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, while employed there, and from his home in Stockton. During the plea hearing, the government prosecutor informed the Court that Rohde had downloaded thousands of images and videos of child pornography.

Every choice has a consequence. Often, however, we think of the consequences as only directly affecting the party in question - in this case - Rohde. That is an inaccurate assumption. The children - whose images were transmitted - were victims. In many cases, such crimes go undetected at home or under the nose of the parents, since they don’t know what to look for or how to spot inappropriate activities.

As a teen ethics speaker, I find that often I am called upon to speak to groups about protecting children from the predators found in cyberspace. While I wish this were not such a hot and important topic, I find that parents find great benefit when they understand what to look for and how to be more vigilant against child pornography and predators.

Comments are welcome!

Cheating the IRS Doesn’t Pay - Another California Man Sentenced to Prison for Filing False Claims with the IRS!

There are times when I write these blog entries that I wonder about the thought process behind the crimes reported. Although, looking back, some one could have said the same about me. So, I hope I never lose my sense of compassion, as I report on business ethics issues and white collar crimes.

According to a news release from the US Department of Justice - Roger Lexin Mai, age 33, was sentenced to 2 years in federal prison and ordered to pay restitution of $57,481 for presenting false claims to the Internal Revenue Service.

Mai, 33, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty on November 15, 2007 to 17 counts of filing false claims, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 287. In pleading guilty, Mr. Mai admitted that from about January through April 2003, he filed 17 false tax returns with the IRS. He purchased names and social security numbers through the internet site, Craigslist for $20.00 per identity. He created false Wage and Tax Statements, Forms W-2, using the identities he purchased. He then created false U.S. Individual Income Tax Returns, which he filed electronically, claiming tax refunds of $107,049. The individuals to whom the identities belong did not authorize the sale or use of their identities.

Mr. Mai further admitted that in addition to the 17 false returns, to which he pleaded guilty, he electronically filed an additional 125 false Forms 1040 and Forms W-2, claiming refunds totaling $734,448.

As a white collar crime speaker, let me say from experience, you can’t fool the IRS. It isn’t worth it. You might think you can pull of the perfect crime, but most of the time, if not all of the time, the laws of the universe are in play. You will reap what you sow.

Just like many others, not only will Mai spend time in federal prison (time he won’t like), but he’ll have to pay his ill gotten gains back.

But like I say often, Every Choice Has A Consequence!