In January 2009, Allan Sloan, senior editor at large for Fortune Magazine, was interviewed by NPR news. The subject of the interview was putting white collar crime in perspective—historically and recently. White collar crime is misunderstood by the general public because the vast majority of the public does not understand finance. Because our country is in an economic recession, crimes involving money laundering, insider trading and other types of fraud tend to gain much more public attention. Those accused of these crimes find themselves unfairly judged by the court of public opinion before a trial even begins. Sloan mentions in this interview one of the major problems facing those who are charged with these crimes: inconsistent punishments. To quote Sloan, “The thing that bothers me…is that once you’re in the criminal justice system, it becomes a lottery. And if you have a good lawyer and your luck runs, you may get off with probation. If your somebody like…Bernie Evers at WorldCom, he got, I believe 25 years. So you never know how it is going to turn out.” However with good representation and a lawyer who isn’t afraid to take your case to trial, you can rely on more than luck. Often white collar criminals mistakenly believe that their only option is a plea, because they have been found guilty by the court of public opinion before the case is brought to trial. If you are accused of a white collar crime, quickly hire a lawyer who isn’t afraid to fight for you and isn’t afraid to show you acquittals they have received on behalf of other businessmen in your situation.
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