Enron Elites "Can't Tolerate" Prison Like Us Regular Folk
The Houston Chronicle has set up a special section on its website solely to cover the various Enron trials. Just found it myself, and thought I'd let you know. It's pretty comprehensive. For example, today I learned that two Merrill Lynch employees involved in the sham Nigerian barge deal received lower sentences than those requested by government prosecutors, largely because the U.S. Supreme Court has "given judges the ability to treat the guidelines as simply advisory" (a good thing).

However, the judge also gave another, not-so-good, reason for the relatively low sentences imposed:

But Werlein had other reasons for going below the government requests for harder prison time.

The judge said white collar criminals are deterred by shorter sentences and can't "tolerate" the same kinds of long sentences as other felons.

And he said he was impressed by some 70 letters written by family and business associates in support of Bayly, whose stellar reputation the judge called Boy Scout-like. The jurist also said he was impressed by Brown's support and how he'd made a successful life out of troubled family beginnings.

The judge called the barge sale scam a "rather small and benign" fraud in the constellation of Enron fraud.

White collar criminals can't tolerate prison the way other criminals can? WTF? How is a drug addict who buys some crack more able to tolerate prison than one of these assholes? Prison sucks for everyone, not just the wealthy elite. And what is this bullshit about letters from family and business associates? What, did they enclose checks?

And, the worst part about this decision is that it gives Ken Lay a reason to cheer: "The sentencing guidelines are finally beginning to drift away. Judges all over America are tired of it," celebrated Mike Ramsey, Ken Lay's lawyer. "This was the unwholesome issue of the unnatural union of Ted Kennedy and Strom Thurmond."

Fuck. I want that asshole to spend the rest of his natural life in prison. In a cell next to President War Criminal.
- posted by TJ @ 5:05 PM