Inconsistent Penalties and White Collar Crime: What Are Your Rights?

Two cases that recently came to light in the Wall Street Journal highlight what could be perceived to be failings of our legal system -- two fairly similar fraud cases where the penalties were radically different. Florida criminal attorneys and their clients are at the mercy of judges' temperaments more than ever before, with the removal of sentencing regulation in some areas of the penal code. We look at this disparity, what causes it and what your criminal attorney can do if you feel you have received an unfair sentence.

Case 1: Michael Riolo
Michael Rioli, of West Palm Beach Florida, was found to be running a fraud scheme that cheated its investors out of around $15 million, early in 2009. His Florida criminal attorney represented well and advised Mr Riolo to hand in his computers and records as evidence to assist prosecutors, which he did. However, the judge in question handed out a 24.5 years sentence for the $15 million fraud.

Case 2: Michael Regan
Michael Regan ran a hedge fund in Massachusetts, and was also found to be defrauding investors. This time the sum in question was around $9 million, and victims included a widow and several elderly citizens. He also assisted prosecutors by handing in his evidence, and received only a seven year sentence.

Why the difference?
The difference is not due to the quality of their criminal attorney representation, but rather to two separate Supreme Court cases in 2005 and 2007 which mean that judges now have greater freedom to depart from sentencing guidelines. The point of the new laws was to give judges greater potential to ensure justice is served according to the individual merits of the case. Yet criminal attorneys are seeing cases that are superficially very similar receiving radically different sentences.

Statistics
Preliminary statistics indicate that on average, judges are giving longer sentences for white collar crimes, while social crimes are receiving fairly similar sentences across the country.

What can you do?
There is currently an inquiry running as to whether the new guidelines have created inequities and unwarranted disparities in the sentencing system. However, clients do not need to wait for the outcome of the trial - your Florida criminal attorney can explore all legal avenues and let you know whether you have a good case to appeal a sentence.