October 5, 2014
A Minority in the White Collar Circle
Let’s start with the numbers first. Here at Herlong there are about 120 inmates at the camp. Of that, I’d guess approximately a dozen of us are in here for white collar crimes. I’m the only insider trading guy but the other offenses range from mortgage fraud to tax evasion to prescription drug fraud. This place is diverse enough so the white collar guys don’t separate ourselves or form some clique. But I have had the opportunity to talk to pretty much each of them and learn about their crimes.
My conclusion? Apparently, I’m the only guilty white collar felon in here (at least, according to them). There may be a handful of guys who confess to committing their crime but that admission is quickly followed by a statement about how the government screwed them or how them being here is just not fair. When it gets to my turn, it is EXTREMELY tempting for me to join in on the pity party. I could dwell on the prosecutor’s attitude or the comment made by the judge about the need to “make an example” of me. But I hold back. For the most part, I don’t get into that stuff because it’s not going to do anyone any good. My standard line is typically, “I made a really stupid mistake. No excuses. I wish I could go back and change it but I can’t. Hopefully others can learn from my experience as that’s all I can do now to make the best out of my foolishness.”
Unfortunately, this response is usually a conversation killer, at least on the topic of our crimes. I don’t take a cavalier attitude or act like I’m better than anyone else here, and believe me when I say that some of the stories I’ve heard in here definitely makes me question how many truly innocent people are in here that I’m serving time with. But the universal lack of remorse is evident and a little troubling.
I get along with most of these guys but unbeknownst to them, I’m always studying them. I want to dig into the psyche of a white collar criminal. Sure, I can introspectively look into my own situation but I’m now learning how to draw upon others’ experiences as well. In the future if I were to continue giving talks espousing corporate ethics, individual self-control, moral dilemmas, etc., I have no doubt that my conversations with each and every one of them will be beneficial to my future audiences.
In the meantime, it’s lonely being the only guilty and remorseful white collar guy in here…
Brian Jorgenson
Wow! some interesting stats here! Who knew? not me
First, you have to remember that the government does not have the resources to prosecute everyone, so the cases it goes after have to be ones it can win easily. It needs its 97% win rate not only to scare people into taking the plea, but also to scare everyone else into compliance. The government is less likely to go after cases it will have a hard time proving guilt of.
Next, some people commit crimes knowingly, others are a second group of people who I call everyone else. People who have no clue that their actions are wrong, or have actual reason to believe its lawful (advice from an accountant or attorney for example that something would be legal but the government disagreed). I believe that if the government as a matter of policy wants to go after a given issue, it will do so and the rest doesn’t matter. Look at the people who had no clue they were supposed to file FBAR forms and are now getting sentenced to prison because of an obscure form that no one had ever heard of before. This was due simply to a shift in governmental policy. They decided they would start cracking down on people who didn’t file on time or at all. The problem of course for people is that the crack down was retroactive, so even if you started to file regularly upon learning about it, if you didn’t get it in on time in prior years, you were pretty much screwed. There was no way to get into compliance from that, and as a result of that oversight many people are now going to prison. The issue especially with documentation crimes for which the offender had no idea, is that there’s so much documentation and compliance that it can be difficult for the average person to get it right, even with professional help. So the conclusion is that if the government wants to go after you, they will. Sort of like driving with a cop behind you. If he wants to pull you over, he’ll find something eventually.
Finally, the last thing you talk about is basic game theory. John Nash would be proud of you for recognizing this. Ironically the version you’re talking about is actually called Prisoner’s Dilemma. You and your buddy are arrested and put into separate rooms. They say that if you talk and he doesn’t, you get 2 years, if you both talk, you get 10 years, if neither of you talk you both go free and if he talks and you don’t, you get 20 years. The dilemma then is what do you do? Game theory says you should talk. The consequence of not talking and the risk that your buddy will is far too great. That is, by talking you’re looking at 2 or 10 years, by not talking its either 0 or 20. So game theory makes the assumption that everyone should do whats in their own best interest, so that being the case, your buddy will talk and so should you which means you get 10 years instead of 20. If by some chance your buddy isn’t smart enough to understand game theory, then you’re only looking at 2.
Anyway, point is the government understands this and I imagine that most of these white collar guys get it too.