Crime Doesn't Pay

Folks in New Orleans seem to be getting a little fed up with this whole crime thing, and probably not a moment too soon for local law-abiding residents (we do have a few). It’s no secret that the city’s crime rate increased sharply after Katrina; with over half the police force AWOL and gangs from the lower Ninth Ward moving to more fertile grounds, opportunity knocked loudly for anyone willing to break a few laws. As a result crime fighting has become something of a local obsession; crime... Read Full Story

Robert Beale is currently in jail while he awaits a sentence for tax evasion, but he did not agree with the decision made by the judge who ruled on the case. However, instead of filing an appeal or seeking help form his attorney, Beale felt that God wanted him to take action into his own hands. Below is a quote from an article on WSJ.com. “According to this indictment, filed Tuesday in Minnesota federal court, a month before Beale was convicted, he made a call from jail to a friend... Read Full Story

Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the majority opinion for the Supreme Court in which they upheld the law aimed at preventing child pornography. Scalia called internet child porn a “threat.” He’s right. As a frequent speaker on teen ethics and computer crimes, it is clear that the internet is becoming a distribution haven for child porn and more importantly it is a playground for child predators. A federal law, the “Protect” Act enacted in 2003 made it a crime not only to produce and possess... Read Full Story

It doesn’t seem that White Collar Crime takes a holiday - even if it is Saint Patrick’s Day and Holy Week combined. Wonder if that confounds Irishmen around the world? Sorry, I digressed - back to the week in review. Ft. Lauderdale, Florida: Seven were indicted on a credit-card fraud and identity theft scheme. They were: Dondre Green, Widley Francois, Michael Georges, Nigel Sookdeo, David Berry, Caddrick Spivey and Monique Thomas. Dondre Green, a U.S. Mail Carrier, stole credit cards... Read Full Story

As a business ethics speaker, it is interesting to observe how many people believe that theft from their company is somehow O.K.! What’s even more interesting is the fact that, in most cases, they don’t think they’ll be caught. It takes three things to create a fraud: (1) need; (2) opportunity and (3) rationalization. Seems that Ovid Timothy Hughes fell into the trap of theft for which there is always a consequence. Ovid Timothy Hughes of Madison, Tennessee was sentenced to 12 months and a... Read Full Story