Situation
People make hundreds of decisions every day. Most decisions are inconsequential, harmless, and occur without a second thought, such as do I brush my teeth when I wake up, or after breakfast? Yet, good people sometimes make bad decisions. When one (seemingly small) bad decision leads to another more harmful bad decision, the escalation of momentum may then trigger a cascade of additional very bad decisions. In my experience, the emotional consequences of criminal behaviors—feelings of shame and misery—extend long after the prison sentence ends.
Criminal behaviors result in a law-and-order response from the government. Law-abiding citizens should understand the toll an arrest, charges, and time in prison wreak on human emotions. Such emotional trauma carries long-term effects on an individual’s sense of wellbeing.
According to the Department of Justice Press Release, “From 2005 to 2012, [I] stole money and property from his victim clients and used the stolen proceeds for his own personal benefit. To further perpetuate his Ponzi scheme, [I] created false account statements and mailed or e-mailed them to his [my] victim clients. [I] also caused fraudulent tax returns to be filed in order to cover up his theft.”
Manufacturing fraudulent documents to deceive investors led to charges against me for violating securities laws.
