Posted on 05/26/2006 6:20:48 AM PDT by Dog Gone
The elimination of notoriously comfortable "Club Fed" lockups, along with a recent trend of handing out hard time to Enron-related convicts, could mean Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling will share prison space with drug dealers, child pornographers and gang members.
White-collar criminals used to be able to count on assignment to minimum-security prisons, known as "Club Feds" because of their cushy conditions — dorm-style living, fewer guards and restrictions — particularly compared with traditional units.
But the U.S. Bureau of Prisons has closed four of those facilities recently, and government rules require nonviolent inmates with long sentences to be upgraded to more severe security levels designated as "low" or "medium."
Experts predict Skilling and Lay are likely to receive sentences of between 12 and 25 years. And any punishment of more than 10 years practically guarantees a more secure prison, because sentence length is a major factor in placement, said Alan Ellis, past president of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and a specialist in sentencing and placement of white-collar offenders.
Common inhabitants of such units are drug felons, scam artists, child pornographers and even people with violent pasts who have shown good behavior in more secure units.
Sentences of 25 years or more likely will mean a step up to medium security, Ellis said.
"Now you're having carjackers, bank robbers, people with assaultive histories and people doing life who kept their nose clean and were moved down," Ellis said.
"Nobody stays either place longer than they're invited," Gerger said.
U.S. District Judge Sim Lake, who sentenced Olis, was the trial judge for Lay and Skilling. He is scheduled to hand down punishment in September.
The only people convicted in Enron-related trials before Thursday, stemming from a Nigerian barge deal with Merrill Lynch, all were sent to low-security prisons despite clean backgrounds and sentences of less than four years each.
Former Enron Treasurer Ben Glisan Jr., who pleaded guilty to conspiracy, began serving his five-year stretch in a low-security unit before being shipped down to a minimum-security camp once he began cooperating with prosecutors. Federal judges can recommend destinations, but the prison system ultimately decides.
Bureau officials say they try to place prisoners within 500 miles of home and in the lowest level of security for which they qualify, but their rules allow an inmate to be upgraded to the next level without cause.
However, attorneys said that such bail is rare in Houston federal courts, and that for it to be granted Lake must decide the two men are not flight risks and have a "substantial likelihood" of getting their convictions or sentences overturned.
As for prison — where California Attorney General Bill Lockyer once said he'd like to see Lay share a cell "with a tattooed dude who says, 'Hi, my name is Spike, honey' " — Houston defense lawyer Kent Schaffer says the federal system tends to be safer than state lockups.
"The Bureau of Prisons is going to want to make sure Ken Lay is not assaulted in prison," Schaffer said. "If somebody of that stature is assaulted in any way, that's going to be really bad PR for the United States government."
Kenny-boy will be able to buy all the protection and creature comforts he needs, no sweat.
I think you're confusing federal prison with those in South America.
Kenny is going to Federal "Pound Me In The A$$" Prison.
I've never found prison rape jokes to be funny. And to have the California AG imply as much is simply despicable.
Bill Lockyer is a cad. I haven't heard his take on these convictions yet, but it should be noted that they had nothing to do with Enron's activities in California during its power crisis.
Totally concur. Prisoners should face society's revenge, and should not be sport for their fellow sociopaths who happen to be higher on the pecking order.
IMHO, prison rape should be punishable by death.
Most of Lay's assets have either been surrendered or frozen, he even had to petition for funds to pay his lawyers.
Lay and Skilling will actually have a lot less wealth than most lesser known white collar criminals and they will be serving much longer sentences.
The man is scum and should go to prison. They should take his money and pay back the people who he scammed and hurt.
I agree with you whole heartedly. The man should be made to take his words back in a very public way!
Prison assaults of any kind are proof of how little control correction authorities (or "guards", as G. Gordon Liddy is wont to call them) actually have over their facilities. Lay and Skilling are, in effect, facing a death sentence for a non-violent crime with fewer evidentiary "smoking guns" than in the O.J. Simpson case. I don't necessarily disagree with the verdict, but I also don't think that either one of these guys deserves any "extra" punishments beyond what has already been accorded.
As Liddy says "what are they correcting?" The lack of control at most prisons is truly disturbing.
Skilling is 52 years old, so he has a good chance of outliving his prison sentence. The judge could sentence him up to 185 years in prison or some ridiculous amount, but I'm sure it will be less than 30 years.
Even so, the punishment to these men will be harsh. Federal sentences do not come with a parole option. Good behavior can shave only a few months off the full sentence.
Perhaps the best thing to come out of this is that corporate executives everywhere are on notice that bending the rules and being less than transparent can bring a huge penalty.
Skilling and Lay are ruined. Lay, in particular, had better seek to enjoy the time between now and September 11 because it's probably the last time he'll have any freedom for the rest of his life.
The defense would have loved for you to be on the jury.
Lay has never shown remorse or admitted any wrongdoing; didn't even have the baseballs to own up to any of it. Hasn't said he's sorry, hasn't asked for forgiveness of the employees, shareholders or public, and remains "defiant," as a consulting judge said.
Skilling is easy to hate, but he has at least acted like he's sorry. OTOH, they got their 9-11 sentencing date because of his arrogrance to the judge, using 9-11-01 as his "excuse" for one of his insider trading allegations. Ha, the pros pointed out that particular set of stock transactions took place the week *before* the WorldTradeCenter/Pentagon/United Flight attacks.
In Houston the talk is Kenny Boy will be pardon by Bush since Clinton pardon Rich. I find this hard to believe.
It's impossible to believe. Bush has always allowed those who self-destruct to face the consequences. Ask Linda Chavez.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.