| Recently a curious phenomenon has risen to the | | | | prison are overwhelming. Over 90% of all people |
| attention of the American public. Why do people | | | | charged with a federal crime end up convicted. |
| plead guilty to crimes then profess their innocence? | | | | Virtually everyone who goes to trial looses. And |
| Or, to put it another way, why would someone plead | | | | over 80% of everyone convicted of a federal crime |
| guilty to a crime they did not commit? | | | | spend time in prison. Those numbers are |
| | | | | staggering. |
| Several bankers from England recently plead guilty to | | | | |
| a Federal indictment in the United States and | | | | Even more staggering is the risk of lengthy prison |
| received prison sentences. All of the bankers plead | | | | terms. And whether true or not, the belief is that |
| guilty and did not go to trial. As part of their plea | | | | courts issue higher sentences to those who go to |
| agreement they were permitted to serve their prison | | | | trial rather than accept a plea deal. |
| sentences in England. Why does this case matter? | | | | |
| | | | | Under the federal system, one of the most |
| None of the bankers agree that they committed a | | | | important factors in determining the length of a |
| crime. They now claim that the only reason they | | | | prison term is the amount of money involved. In |
| plead guilty was to avoid the risk of going to trial and | | | | drug cases there are mandatory minimum sentences, |
| facing a long prison sentence in the US. The press in | | | | usually over 10 years. In cases involving money -- |
| England is paying attention to this case and so should | | | | business cases, investment cases, anything involving |
| we. | | | | property -- it doesn't take much money to send |
| | | | | sentence lengths soaring. And the requirement of |
| In another case that received scant press attention, | | | | proof beyond a reasonable doubt does not apply |
| an executive tried to plead guilty to a crime. He did | | | | when determining the amount of money involved in a |
| not want to go to trial because he feared receiving a | | | | crime. |
| lengthy prison term. The judge would not accept his | | | | |
| guilty plea. This man walked into court expecting to | | | | For these reasons, reasonable people will agree to |
| be sentenced to prison. He had been charged with | | | | plead guilty to a crime they did not commit. The |
| a crime that he did not think he committed. He | | | | risks of going to trial, the risk that a court can find |
| knew that he had very little chance of being | | | | that your supposed crime involved substantial |
| acquitted in today's environment. He knew the | | | | amounts of money, are too great. |
| prosecutors had no concern whether he may actually | | | | |
| be innocent. And he surely did not want to risk | | | | The bottom line is that, if you are charged with a |
| getting a prison sentence that would have ruined his | | | | federal crime, you are probably going to go to |
| life. So, he marched into court to plead guilty. The | | | | prison. Guilt or innocence are luxuries. If you have |
| judge rejected his plea deal when he admitted that | | | | been charged with a federal crime your first thought |
| he did not think he committed a crime. | | | | should not be that you are going to fight because |
| | | | | you are not guilty. And heaven forbid, if you are |
| So this poor guy is now going to have to go to trial | | | | guilty, you should not risk going to trial. Your first |
| under circumstances where his chances of prevailing | | | | thought should be how to keep your prison sentence |
| are almost nonexistent, in a system that most fear | | | | to the absolute minimum. Leave the question of |
| gives longer sentences to those who go to trial. | | | | guilt or innocence to the academics. Make sure your |
| | | | | sentence is short enough so you can pick up the |
| The statistics for the percentage of people charged | | | | pieces when you are released. |
| with a federal crime who end up spending time in | | | | |
