Prison Journal: Day 8,085

September 28, 2009

I had an opportunity to read an article in the Los Angeles Business Journal today that reported on how law firms are expecting a surge in white collar prosecutions. Most prosecutions will stem from the sub-prime mortgage crisis and frauds that related to the businesses serving that industry. Regardless of the particular criminal charge, most will lead to convictions, and those convictions will lead many to federal prison camps like the one I’m in at this very moment, in Taft, California.

The months before the criminal justice system takes its bite out of white collar offenders are the most important. The decisions an individual defendant makes during those first months will determine the severity of legal expenses, as well as the defendant’s exposure to sanctions.  As I read the article, I thought about how unprepared most of those future defendants are at this moment, and how much they could help themselves by speaking with someone who has been ground up by the criminal justice machine. If I could advise them, I’d urge them to contact my friend, Justin Paperny.

Justin graduated from USC to launch a successful career as an investment professional. He worked as an account executive at UBS before one of his accounts that he should have been managing more closely resulted in his prosecution. He served a year at Taft Camp, for a securities law violation, but that year became one of the most productive of his life – he even wrote a book, Lessons From Prison. Anyone facing a white collar crime offense ought to call him, as Justin’s guidance could help those fraud defendants make better decisions.

My writing prospects continue, but they’re different from Justin’s informative book. This morning, at 1:48, I resumed work on the edit of Earning Freedom and worked through chapter seven. That’s now in the mail on its way to my wife. I ran 10 miles, lifting my running tally to 2,576 miles over the past 290 consecutive days. Running without a day off has been one of the most empowering decisions I’ve made and I intend to continue even though my pace slowed measurable this past week.

Monday, 28 September 2009

Related posts:

1. Prison Journal: Day 8,232
2. Prison Journal: Day 8,126
3. Prison Journal: Day 8,041
4. Prison Journal: Day 7,953
5. Prison Journal: Day 8,199

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