One thing I didn’t realize when I first arrived in Federal Prison, was just how many doctors and lawyers were in there with me. The figure was astonishing. At FPC Montgomery alone there were over 100 doctors and lawyers serving time. I can’t imagine that someone invests in graduate school, law school and medical school with a goal to spend time in a Federal Prison.
Sure, this is a naive statement, nobody wants to go to prison, at all. However that doesn’t stop thousands of social media followers who follow “prison content creators” from saying “well maybe you shouldn’t go to prison.”
I’ll be the first to admit that I had this exact same attitude before I found myself behind a steel door, in a concrete cell (people believe that there are a bunch of bars nowadays are also naive). I firmly believed that everyone in prison believed to be there and they should be there for a while. I was often times heard saying (in my first year) that when I was running a business, successful, and contributing to political campaigns that “if my money donated to Senator Burr went towards prison reform I would have demanded a refund”.
This attitude seems to be the norm for Americans that just don’t know any better. Sure, most people who commit crimes deserve prison time. I did. I received a sentence of 63 months for wire fraud and securities fraud. My sentence was exactly in the guideline range for my crime. I deserved all the time I received.
But I digress….
In speaking specifically about doctors and lawyers, these professionals didn’t set out to go to prison. Nobody knows the exact circumstances behind their motivation to commit a crime. I can tell you this though, every single doctor that I’ve done time with (with the exception being one single podiatrist) was over 50 years old. That’s most likely an indicator that, for at least a portion of their career, they were a legitimate, caring professional doctor. Same thing goes for lawyers. I never met a lawyer, even in their 30’s, in Federal Prison.
And let’s talk about lawyers specifically for a second. The nation watched last week as Brian Steel, Young Thug’s lawyer, graciously accepted time in jail for defending and protecting his client. Maybe he shouldn’t have done anything to go to jail, right? Wrong, because had he not done anything he would not have been performing his job to the best of his ability.
Financial situations, often stemming from familial circumstances, led most doctors, and some lawyers to prison. While taking all I’m saying in, take a deep breath and consider this, what wouldn’t you do for your children? To some, even doctors and lawyers, bending the rules, is sometimes where they turn.
Are you a business person that is in a buying position for large purchases for your company? Are you a doctor who is in the position to purchase medicine from a pharmaceutical company? Chances are you’ve been taken out to dinner by a sales rep, or used their lake house. Maybe you took a flight on the dime of a perspective vendor to a conference. All of these things are actually illegal. That podiatrist I just wrote about, that was his crime.
How many times have you made friends with a business associate who was in the position to sell your company something, then weeks, months, even later they call you up and say “hey I need a favor”. Chances are that favor could be punishable by prison time.
Trust me, I was there, I know what you’re thinking, the next thing out of your mouth is “I didn’t mean those kind of people”, when you pull back the onion, we are all “those kind of people”.
Maybe it’s time to get off your high horse.
Are you a doctor or lawyer facing Federal Prison, perhaps we can help. Email us today at info@federalprisontips.com or call 407-735-6995
