transcript
show notes
Judge Wilson told me at my sentencing that he was tired of salesmen turning the other way for money, that most don't get caught, that I did, and that he was going to make an example out of me and send me to prison. The truth is I did much worse than turn the other way. I aggressively facilitated a fraud at Bear Stearns and then UBS, and I schemed with my colleagues so the commissions would keep coming. I'm flying up north to see several people in our community. One of them is a young kid who worked in healthcare, obstructed an investigation, got nervous and scared, lied, was indicted, pled guilty, and got probation. Here's my policy idea. I earned every collateral consequence that followed my terrible decisions. I should no longer sell stocks. You can argue prison should have been part of the sanction, and a good dude, probation officer Isaiah Murrow, oversaw me for three years. Should this kid carry the same consequences I do? There should be varying levels of consequence for a felony. How is he fired from Bank of America? How can you be Bank of America and fire felons? Should he be denied a license? Should he have the Department of Justice press releases, because in an out-of-character moment he lied and responded poorly? He's a felon and he's enduring the consequences, but should it last forever? Mine should be much more severe because of what I did. I don't think the same should follow for him. Do you agree or disagree?
