Changes in Guidelines and Penalties for White Collar Offenses
The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) wears many hats. One hat is prosecuting white collar criminals. The DOJ seeks and imposes penalties on companies or individuals who violate the laws and regulations of the United States. The DOJ’s policies and the penalties for white collar criminal offenses are changing. White collar crimes differ from street crimes; they are crimes committed with paper and pen or with computers and do not involve firearms, drugs, or physical force. But their consequences can be serious and harm the common man greatly. Until recently, very large companies were paying steep fines for white collar crimes, but their executives – the people who directed and participated in the crimes – were not doing jail time or pleading guilty personally. Relatively few of the executives who dreamed up, devised, and profited hugely –for example: the housing bubble, large banks that mistreated ordinary borrowers, drug companies that sold prescription drugs that they knew had terrible side effects and still sold them – went to jail. Critics complained that ordinary people who committed less serious crimes with far less serious consequences went to jail, paid stiff fines, and had to endure the criminal justice system. They argued that a double standard existed: one for very large corporations and their executives and the other for the common man.
After a string of other large corporation’s criminal wrongdoings, the Volkswagen scandal, in which the automobile maker used “defeat devices” to falsify diesel emissions test results, came to light. The DOJ and other parties are seeking changes in the policies and penalties for white collar offenses and stiffer penalties for these crimes. The punishments for these crimes are set out in the federal sentencing guidelines. The existing guidelines cover such offenses as theft, embezzlement, fraud, forgery, counterfeiting, and insider trading. The proposed changes to the guidelines put teeth in white collar crimes and, if changed, will mean that white collar criminals more likely will face jail time and longer sentences.
The proposals to change the sentencing guidelines alter the meaning of “intended loss” exclusively to the perpetrator’s intent to purposefully harm the victim or victims; include any major “financial hardship” the victim or victims may have suffered as a determining sentencing factor; alter the meaning of “sophisticated means” to the perpetrator’s individual conduct in the plot as opposed to the overall plot itself; alter the methods by which losses are calculated; and make the calculating methods non-rebuttable. In addition to the number of victims who suffered from the offense, the amended guidelines include any major financial hardship the victim or victims may have suffered such as filing for bankruptcy, losing retirement savings, being forced to change their retirement dates, changing residences from an expensive home to a less expensive one, and being unable to obtain a loan. The altered meaning of sophisticated means focuses on whether the method itself, which the perpetrator used to purposefully partake in the plot, is sophisticated. The amended methods for calculating the loss, which the victim or victims suffered, widens and diversifies the scope for calculating the loss, and by making the methods non-rebuttable, they will be difficult for white collar criminals to challenge the effect and scope of their misdeeds.
There are additional amendments to stiffen the penalties for white collar criminals; they account for monetary inflation, crack down harder on career offenders, highlight joint criminal activity, and consider offenders who played an extremely small role in the plot, cooperate with authorities, and get their sentences reduced. The aim is to increase the number of penalties, including jail time, for white collar offenders. The proposed amendments are intended to yield more accountability among white collar offenders and to prevent the true masterminds of these plots from walking away.
The changes in the DOJ’s and other parties’ white collar policies and the federal sentencing guidelines will affect large corporations, but alas, they likely will affect many others. For the everyday man charged with federal crimes, existing policies and guidelines are complicated and confusing, and the proposed changes are intended to make the policies and sentencing guidelines clearer and less confusing. Still, the amended policies and guidelines are confusing and difficult to understand. So, if you are charged with a criminal offense, white collar or otherwise, talk to a lawyer.
For more information, contact Nashville Attorney Perry A. Craft.
Perry A. Craft has dedicated his life to helping people in need. He has tried, settled, or resolved numerous civil and criminal cases in State and Federal courts, and has represented teachers and administrators before school boards, administrative judges, and the state Board of Education. Learn more about Attorney Craft.