Thank you so much for sharing! I like how you mentioned that it is good to put your situation in perspective - It also resonates when Justin mentions to live your life to its fullest now, not being in your own self imposed prison before that time comes. That's a difficult thing to do when all you want to do is crawl under a rock and not come out until it's over! But I've begun to realize how important that is.
+Heather Alfonso Thanks. It finally sunk in when I talked with someone I knew and they completely forgot and did not care at all about our family drama. I had lived an entire year under that same rock, some nights staring at the same ceiling tile...the light is so much better!
Much appreciation to you both for bringing this message to the masses. I’m a low level criminal who never got caught but now have left that life and am stuck in a job I feel is beneath me and I needed to hear this message to get back to a stoic stance and realistic choices going forward to improve my situation bc I can the reason I have not been able to is bc I’ve been to busy whining and embracing self pity and thinking I’m great when I’m kind of average which is still enough to move me forward.
The key is owning it right away. I'm so very thankful I had that sense about me when I made my plea. My sentence went from a possible 31 mos to 15 mos. Very grateful indeed.
Justin I have a question that is a bit difficult to formulate but I'll try. When we look back at all of these stories it all seems so black and white, so cut and dry. It seems that when looking with the benefit of hindsight it seems that people made grievous mistakes, crossed any number of bright lines, could have stuck to the straight and narrow and avoided all of the troubles and heartaches. But my question is - how much of this is due to the benefit of hindsight? I wonder how many of these "bad decisions" were - at the time - not at all obvious? That people were in very strained, very ambiguous situations, subject to internal and external pressures and based on that did in fact stray from their one true path, but did so in a way that many people, placed in similar situations, might have done the same? Basically do these cases look very different in hindsight than they might have while they were happening? A decent analogy might be doping in sports. It looks horrible when all the dirty laundry is aired in public but at the time there was probably a lot of "everyone is doing it" "the coach knows" "if I don't do it I'll get left behind" etc. etc.
How ironic! 2013 was a pivotal year for me as well. Nearly a dozen law officers, including at least half a dozen FBI agents, showed up at my door in 2013 when I was arrested. What was the crime you wonder? Let me just go slowly, since I feel compelled to notice the stratification that exists even within the class of "offenders". As you use the term "White collar offender" sounds almost inoffensive since it often implies some kind of financial misdealing of some sort. In the minds of many, much depends on who is being defrauded. It's one thing avoiding paying taxes in fraudulent schemes - and quite another defrauding little old ladies of their life savings. I turned out to be a "sex offender", the lowest of the lows. What did I do? After spiraling into drug addiction and porn addiction, I reached the bottom when I started downloading underage porn. I was 56 when arrested. What was I thinking? Drugs, alcohol, and despair are part of the story. But few people want to hear about all that. In any case, I was deported in 2018 after nearly 5 years in prison. I had lived in the US for 50 years, but still got deported anyway to a country I had not seen since I was 11 years old. Too poor to afford a lawyer, my public defender was overworked and underpaid. I saw her maybe four times in the course of 8 months. The fourth time was the same day of sentencing when I learned that my felony charges had gone up from category C to category B, which came with more prison time! I had pleaded guilty from the very start, yet it just dragged out for 8 months. Another guy - with nearly the same charges - got probation. I got 7 years. He had a lawyer. I didn't. Could things have gone differently with a real lawyer? I don't know - but rather doubt it. The one possibility - in my case - is that I should have more aggressively pursued the fact that - being only an immigrant with a green card - I would almost certainly be deported. With that in mind, I should have been advised to contact the French embassy immediately because there was the possibility of doing part of the time in the US and maybe being transferred to a French prison after a year or so and would have served less time all told. But I was not told of this possibility. A real lawyer would have advised me perhaps? And yet life goes on, as it must! I'm still reconstructing my life, at age 64! If I can do it, surely anyone can! There are no excuses!
If you need to talk to the FBI you need to have a lawyer with you. If they show up, record everything. Frankly, I am suspicious of anyone who'd give you advice different than above.
Had I had this information, my first proffer would have gone much better. Invaluable information for anyone under investigation by the federal government.
What a kind and bright son! Subtitles would be helpful for Mike, the son. I replayed a phrase 4 times and was un able to understand what he said. Merging words together is common to Americans his age. Finish one word before starting the next. Here is an example of what I mean. GROCERY STORE CLERK TO CUSTOMER : Paperorplastic?
When you mentioned Kentucky and electronics in the same sentence, it peaked my interest. What Louis Brothers was convicted of, IMHO, is quite severe. He sold radiation hardened microcircuits to the PRC. For those in Rio Linda, that is People's Republic of China. I know, I know, don't go judging but, his intent was clear and he should be happy to get the sentence that he did. I just wonder what those radiation hardened circuits could possibly be used for. Hum, one has to wonder.
Very interesting, did the government notice a financial anomaly in the ponzu scam the start assigning blame, just because you white collar man, didn’t have malice of forethought and maybe didn’t know through negligence that a ponzu scam was going on?
I just started watching the video and I have to disagree. Your friend talks about cooperating with the feds or police when they're investigating the crime. Do not talk to them invoke your fifth amendment and refused to talk to any police officer unless you have an attorney present.
They mean cooperating with the feds according to the advice of your lawyer. While it is true you always want to affirm your 5th amendment privileges, when it is the feds we're dealing with, it's a whole nother level of "You're fucked." When the feds are coming for you, it's because they already have their ducks in a row, and have had it ready for a long time (something like 94-95% of all indictments lead to a conviction.) So when the FBI shows up, call your lawyer, and get ready to bend over.
It’s sad sometimes that the journalists don’t first publish the truth. Because when you believe if it is the enquirers that the story will be dug and the truth will be eclipsed, from. Honest Journalists point of view, not your truth but just the truth. Journalistic integrity seems like it just doesn’t sell enough news. Sometimes.
I've been wondering about this for a long time. When you think financial crimes where people are knowing defrauding other people, stealing hours and hours and hours of production of their victims in sums that could total years all in, why do you think that's a civil crime? Non-white collar "criminals" get jail time for harming their own bodies, why should white collar criminals get away with just paying back some of their ill gotten gains? Which is the real crime against society, crimes that revolve around drugs or crimes that steal people's faith in the financial system (that is filled with all the bad actors who don't get caught?)
Idk why this was in my feed but I clicked on it out of curiosity thinking to myself why would one need to know this & why would the FBI even be at your home. Then Mr obvious slapped me upside the head lol Scary just thinking one might need to know.
A little more humility at the beginning your introduction would go a lot further than all the rationalizations that follow. Even more important than not breaking the law, would be advice to avoid conduct that you know in your heart is wrong, even when it is legal. Follow that rule and you're not likely to receive a visit from the FBI. Once they show up, you're already in deep shit.
I'm very sorry to hear about what you went through. Unfortunately I think your advice is bad. When the FBI shows up, just SHUT UP. Invoke your Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. At the very least talk to a lawyer before talking to them. Anything you say can and will be used against you, so the less said the better. I wish you had fought this tooth-and-nail and gone to trial. If all they had on you was misprision, I doubt there's a jury in the country that would have convicted you just for not snitching on your own mother and father.
Is he even in prison? You are saying the truth doesn’t matter....it’s the way you say it. If that’s the case just lie. I’m not in a position to be in prison, but this troubles me.
That’s why you’re note prison. People with no conscience do crappy things to other people. Have integrity, don’t lie, don’t cheat. Then you don’t have to worry about the FBI
I respectfully suggest you listen more and actually allow the person you’re interviewing to get a full sentence out of his mouth before you interrupt and bring the conversation back to yourself. Clearly this video is a commercial for your company/you.
Thank you so much for sharing! I like how you mentioned that it is good to put your situation in perspective - It also resonates when Justin mentions to live your life to its fullest now, not being in your own self imposed prison before that time comes. That's a difficult thing to do when all you want to do is crawl under a rock and not come out until it's over! But I've begun to realize how important that is.
+Heather Alfonso Thanks. It finally sunk in when I talked with someone I knew and they completely forgot and did not care at all about our family drama. I had lived an entire year under that same rock, some nights staring at the same ceiling tile...the light is so much better!
Will they show up to your house over 5k$ ?
Much appreciation to you both for bringing this message to the masses. I’m a low level criminal who never got caught but now have left that life and am stuck in a job I feel is beneath me and I needed to hear this message to get back to a stoic stance and realistic choices going forward to improve my situation bc I can the reason I have not been able to is bc I’ve been to busy whining and embracing self pity and thinking I’m great when I’m kind of average which is still enough to move me forward.
The last line. Don't give them one more day than they're taking. Live every day to the fullest. Great advice!
Thank you. I actually mentioned that line in a video I posted today. Good timing!! th-cam.com/video/kUG8zcv6rm0/w-d-xo.html
The key is owning it right away. I'm so very thankful I had that sense about me when I made my plea. My sentence went from a possible 31 mos to 15 mos. Very grateful indeed.
Justin I have a question that is a bit difficult to formulate but I'll try. When we look back at all of these stories it all seems so black and white, so cut and dry. It seems that when looking with the benefit of hindsight it seems that people made grievous mistakes, crossed any number of bright lines, could have stuck to the straight and narrow and avoided all of the troubles and heartaches. But my question is - how much of this is due to the benefit of hindsight? I wonder how many of these "bad decisions" were - at the time - not at all obvious? That people were in very strained, very ambiguous situations, subject to internal and external pressures and based on that did in fact stray from their one true path, but did so in a way that many people, placed in similar situations, might have done the same? Basically do these cases look very different in hindsight than they might have while they were happening? A decent analogy might be doping in sports. It looks horrible when all the dirty laundry is aired in public but at the time there was probably a lot of "everyone is doing it" "the coach knows" "if I don't do it I'll get left behind" etc. etc.
How ironic! 2013 was a pivotal year for me as well. Nearly a dozen law officers, including at least half a dozen FBI agents, showed up at my door in 2013 when I was arrested.
What was the crime you wonder? Let me just go slowly, since I feel compelled to notice the stratification that exists even within the class of "offenders". As you use the term "White collar offender" sounds almost inoffensive since it often implies some kind of financial misdealing of some sort. In the minds of many, much depends on who is being defrauded. It's one thing avoiding paying taxes in fraudulent schemes - and quite another defrauding little old ladies of their life savings. I turned out to be a "sex offender", the lowest of the lows. What did I do? After spiraling into drug addiction and porn addiction, I reached the bottom when I started downloading underage porn. I was 56 when arrested. What was I thinking? Drugs, alcohol, and despair are part of the story. But few people want to hear about all that.
In any case, I was deported in 2018 after nearly 5 years in prison. I had lived in the US for 50 years, but still got deported anyway to a country I had not seen since I was 11 years old. Too poor to afford a lawyer, my public defender was overworked and underpaid. I saw her maybe four times in the course of 8 months. The fourth time was the same day of sentencing when I learned that my felony charges had gone up from category C to category B, which came with more prison time! I had pleaded guilty from the very start, yet it just dragged out for 8 months. Another guy - with nearly the same charges - got probation. I got 7 years. He had a lawyer. I didn't. Could things have gone differently with a real lawyer? I don't know - but rather doubt it. The one possibility - in my case - is that I should have more aggressively pursued the fact that - being only an immigrant with a green card - I would almost certainly be deported. With that in mind, I should have been advised to contact the French embassy immediately because there was the possibility of doing part of the time in the US and maybe being transferred to a French prison after a year or so and would have served less time all told. But I was not told of this possibility. A real lawyer would have advised me perhaps?
And yet life goes on, as it must! I'm still reconstructing my life, at age 64! If I can do it, surely anyone can! There are no excuses!
If you need to talk to the FBI you need to have a lawyer with you. If they show up, record everything.
Frankly, I am suspicious of anyone who'd give you advice different than above.
Thanks for teaching people how to waive their due process constitutional rights. Why would anyone hire these sell outs to the tyrants.
I like your comments
Had I had this information, my first proffer would have gone much better. Invaluable information for anyone under investigation by the federal government.
What a kind and bright son! Subtitles would be helpful for Mike, the son. I replayed a phrase 4 times and was un able to understand what he said. Merging words together is common to Americans his age. Finish one word before starting the next. Here is an example of what I mean. GROCERY STORE CLERK TO CUSTOMER : Paperorplastic?
When you mentioned Kentucky and electronics in the same sentence, it peaked my interest. What Louis Brothers was convicted of, IMHO, is quite severe. He sold radiation hardened microcircuits to the PRC. For those in Rio Linda, that is People's Republic of China. I know, I know, don't go judging but, his intent was clear and he should be happy to get the sentence that he did. I just wonder what those radiation hardened circuits could possibly be used for. Hum, one has to wonder.
Yorba Linda ? You mean Rio Linda.
@@stephenpavlov8942 I stand corrected. Thank you.
Very interesting, did the government notice a financial anomaly in the ponzu scam the start assigning blame, just because you white collar man, didn’t have malice of forethought and maybe didn’t know through negligence that a ponzu scam was going on?
Interesting.
I just started watching the video and I have to disagree. Your friend talks about cooperating with the feds or police when they're investigating the crime. Do not talk to them invoke your fifth amendment and refused to talk to any police officer unless you have an attorney present.
They mean cooperating with the feds according to the advice of your lawyer. While it is true you always want to affirm your 5th amendment privileges, when it is the feds we're dealing with, it's a whole nother level of "You're fucked." When the feds are coming for you, it's because they already have their ducks in a row, and have had it ready for a long time (something like 94-95% of all indictments lead to a conviction.) So when the FBI shows up, call your lawyer, and get ready to bend over.
It’s sad sometimes that the journalists don’t first publish the truth. Because when you believe if it is the enquirers that the story will be dug and the truth will be eclipsed, from. Honest Journalists point of view, not your truth but just the truth. Journalistic integrity seems like it just doesn’t sell enough news. Sometimes.
I've been wondering about this for a long time. When you think financial crimes where people are knowing defrauding other people, stealing hours and hours and hours of production of their victims in sums that could total years all in, why do you think that's a civil crime? Non-white collar "criminals" get jail time for harming their own bodies, why should white collar criminals get away with just paying back some of their ill gotten gains? Which is the real crime against society, crimes that revolve around drugs or crimes that steal people's faith in the financial system (that is filled with all the bad actors who don't get caught?)
Idk why this was in my feed but I clicked on it out of curiosity thinking to myself why would one need to know this & why would the FBI even be at your home. Then Mr obvious slapped me upside the head lol
Scary just thinking one might need to know.
A little more humility at the beginning your introduction would go a lot further than all the rationalizations that follow. Even more important than not breaking the law, would be advice to avoid conduct that you know in your heart is wrong, even when it is legal. Follow that rule and you're not likely to receive a visit from the FBI. Once they show up, you're already in deep shit.
I'm very sorry to hear about what you went through. Unfortunately I think your advice is bad. When the FBI shows up, just SHUT UP. Invoke your Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights. At the very least talk to a lawyer before talking to them. Anything you say can and will be used against you, so the less said the better. I wish you had fought this tooth-and-nail and gone to trial. If all they had on you was misprision, I doubt there's a jury in the country that would have convicted you just for not snitching on your own mother and father.
Is he even in prison? You are saying the truth doesn’t matter....it’s the way you say it. If that’s the case just lie. I’m not in a position to be in prison, but this troubles me.
That’s why you’re note prison. People with no conscience do crappy things to other people. Have integrity, don’t lie, don’t cheat. Then you don’t have to worry about the FBI
I respectfully suggest you listen more and actually allow the person you’re interviewing to get a full sentence out of his mouth before you interrupt and bring the conversation back to yourself. Clearly this video is a commercial for your company/you.
Thank you for your honest feedback. Happy Holidays.
Interesting.