SENTENCING DAY. FIVE YEARS LATER

 

As I sit here today, Monday October 26, 2020, I am instantly transformed back to the last time October 26 came out on a Monday. The year was  2015. That was the day that I was sentenced and taken into custody. I wrote about this day three years go and it can be read at http://www.whitecollarguru.com/2017/10/the-defendant-is-hereby-remanded-to.html

 

For some reason today is harder than the other anniversaries. Perhaps it is because it is the 5-year anniversary or perhaps it is because like then, this year it falls out on a Monday. Without question it was the worst day of my life. I am sure most of my family would say the same-there are always exceptions! I feel as though I am sitting here but am being transformed back in time and reliving that day hour by hour, minute by minute and second by second. I remember driving to the courthouse, waiting to get it, and having my lawyers advocate for me. I am reliving the speech that I gave to the judge an in front of family and friends expressing regret for “the person I had become” in 2009 and hoping against hope that the judge would find it in his heart to allow me to avoid prison time. Finally, I remember the judge dashing my hopes and asking the US Marshals Service to remand me to custody.

It is kind of eerie. Although it was happening to me and I therefore could not possibly have watched it, I felt then as I feel know that I was hovering outside my own body as I was told to remove my belt and tie. I remember gazing upon myself as I was escorted out of the courtroom to the chamber in front where they proceeded to place handcuffs on my wrists and shackled around my ankles. If it were not so sad it would have been comical. I knew then as I know now that I always lived my life close to the edge, often too close, but ending up in prison? Me? How in the world did this happen? The worst part is what goes through your mind as this is happening. I sat there wondering how do I come back from this? How will I rebuild? How will I survive prison? What will happen to my family? Will my children suffer irreparable damage? Will they be ashamed? Will they be embarrassed by me? There is no worse feeling that that sense of defeatism and having no hope whatsoever. I think that this is the intent of the criminal justice system. While the stated goal is physically lock you up, the real goal is to paralyze you into an irreparable state of hopelessness and despair.

That was then and this is now. I sit here today at what we all hope is the end of the COVID epidemic. We as a society have been subjected to a collective imprisonment as quarantines were enacted, travel bans imposed, and businesses shuttered. The sense of despair across our society was palpable as these restrictions began to take place. Now as one who had been in prison, I guess I was “fortunate” in the sense that the quarantines, while unpleasant, was nothing compared to actual incarceration. Speak with any former prisoner and he will unequivocally state that this was a cake walk compared to actual incarceration- even if he was fortunate enough to serve his time in a minimum security camp such as where I served the bulk of my time. Yes, the loss of life has been tragic, and should never have happened but for the individual former prisoner this is nothing.

 

As I mentioned, the worst part of the process was the sense that all is lost and that you will never recover. The cure for that is too start looking forward from the day you start serving your time. It is what I have endeavored to do since that horrible day five years ago. It is not easy. At the same time, there is no point in dwelling on the past other than to learn from it. If someone would have asked me on that day if I thought I would be where I am today, I would have thought he belonged in an insane asylum.  I would have suggested he also get locked up! Yet here I am today having embarked on a new career and cannot be happier. I can honestly say that I am happier in my profession in 2020 that I was in in 2015 and 2014 for that matter. I work day in and day out with some of the best and brightest men and women in my profession and they judge me for who I am today and now who they may have read about in some inaccurate article written over 10 years ago. As a quasi-co-defendant told me when I entered the Miami Prison Camp, “they can take many things from you but the one thing they cannot take from you is your brain. Mike you are a smart guy, and you will rebuild”. We had not been friends at any point during 2009 but he was kind enough to give me that encouragement as we walked the track on the day I arrived. It is a truism that I have never forgotten.

Many of my other worries have dissipated as well. My children, who were my main sources of concern used it as an experience from which they can grow. Without exception they are excelling at levels I never would have thought possible. They are all near or at the top of the classes. My oldest child even used the experience of being the child of an incarcerated parent as the topic for her college essay. Socially even most of my friends stood by me. Sure, some of them disappeared but in hindsight, they were never real friends anyway.

As for me, well the experience changed me. I am not going to lie, no one ever really changes, at least not permanently. I am still as opinionated, spiteful, and often arrogant as ever. At the same time, my approach to life and my appreciation of all I have is certainly more at the forefront. The very fact that I can run on the beach is something to appreciate. The ability to see family and friends whenever I want is something to appreciate. The privilege to work with amazing people is something to appreciate. These are all seemingly mundane activities that most people take for granted. It is not until these “normal” daily activities are no longer “normal” that we realize how lucky we are.

 

So here I am five years later. Do I dwell on the past too much? Probably. But at the same time I am always looking forward, finding a way to make myself better and realizing that every day is a gift. As the saying goes: Yesterday was history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift. That is why it is called the present. And here is another one for my religious friends out there: G-d put your eyes in front of your head so that you always look forward and not backward.

The Jeff Epstein Netflix Special and Brad Edwards. A Story I have Never Told Before.

I just finished watching the Jeff Epstein special on Netflix. It made me sick to my stomach and if anyone reading this wants to avoid losing their appetite, he or she should not watch this. As a parent of two daughters, it makes me sick. The whole episode is so incomprehensible. From the fact that his crimes went on for so long to the sweetheart deal his lawyers got for him to his ultimate end proves that adage that often times, truth is stranger than fiction.

There is another part of the story that was not covered in the Netflix story. It is a story that maybe five people are privy to. It is a story that I have told to perhaps three people. I am not even sure that I told it to my own lawyers. It is a story that needs to be told. I share this story not out of vengeance not out of malice. I share this story because as a father of two daughters I am outraged. I am outraged at what happened to these girls and I am outraged that law enforcement either covered up his actions or were complicit in the crimes. I am also outraged because while it is terrible that these girls were exploited by Jeff Epstein, while it is outrageous that Alex Acosta allowed him to get away with it,  it is equally abhorrent that they were exploited for financial  by someone else many of these victims trusted. While I generally refrain from talking about my own personal case, I feel that this story merits an exception because as I said, nearly 11 years after I was initially implicated in a crime, it is a story that must be told.

 

When Jeff Epstein was arrested, I did post a blog about him. For those of you who missed it, you can read it here: http://www.whitecollarguru.com/2019/07/will-jeff-epstein-walk-free.html. My personal opinion is that ultimately Jeff Epstein was going to get away with it. Sure, he was going to be in prison until his trial started and possibly would have even been found guilty. However, at some point there was going to be some court, possibly the Supreme Court, that was going to have to tackle the question of whether Epstein’s deal, flawed as it was, did protect him from being prosecuted for all of his related crimes that took place prior to 2008. My personal opinion was that at the end of the day, the law was going to come down on Epstein’s side.  I say this for simple reason that if it would not, then every person who accepted a plea deal, present company included, could, in theory be charged for that same crime in another district. The entire system of plea deal would fall apart at the seams and defendants would no longer accept plea deals. From a purely pragmatic standpoint Epstein’s deal was going to stand.

That, however, is not the story I wish to tell today. I am sure there are many of you who are familiar with my case to varying degrees. But for those who are not and for those who just do not remember, I was involved in a case that purportedly was selling what were effectively viatical settlements. In simple terms, a plaintiff would settle for a payment to be paid out over a period of time and rather than wait, the plaintiff would sell the stream of payments to an investor at a discount in exchange for a lump sum payment up front. This is a common investment pitched by JG Wentworth as well as some other companies. The types of cases ranged from sexual harassment claims to class action to employment issues to qui tam cases and the returns were similarly varied. Unbeknownst to me, and unfortunately for the investors none of the cases actually existed. Ultimately the prosecutors admitted I had no role in that scheme but managed to get me to plea to something else, but that is a story for another time.

 

I am going to take you all back to the summer of 2009. Jeff Epstein had recently been released from prison. At around the same time, Alex Acosta, the person who headed up the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida stepped down to become dean of the law school at Florida International University. He also started hanging out in Fort Lauderdale with Scott Rothstein at around the same time. Scott Rothstein was the mastermind behind the viatical settlement Ponzi scheme. I myself met Acosta at least two times at Bova Prime, a restaurant in Fort Lauderdale. For those of you who have watched the Netflix series, you will remember that there are three attorneys representing the victims of Jeff Epstein. It is my belief that representing these victims and getting their stories told is of the noblest cases a lawyer can take. One of those prominently featured is an attorney by the name of Brad Edwards. Coincidentally enough, Brad Edwards joined Scott Rothstein’s firm in 2009 and was a lawyer there at the time Acosta started hanging around with Rothstein. Why did Edwards join Rothstein’s firm? Well according to what I had heard, he was representing a bunch of victims and his firm did not have the financial capabilities to handle the case. His clients certainly had hired him on a pure contingency basis. Scott Rothstein’s firm did, however, have the financial resources to fund the cases. I imagine for Rothstein, it amounted to the opportunity to earn fees from these settlements in exchange for funding these cases. Unfortunately, Rothstein, and it seem ultimately Edwards, and possibly even Acosta had more sinister plans in mind.

 

As I mentioned the cases that were purportedly being funded varied. In September of 2009, a new “class” of cases emerged. We were told that we were now going to be funding cases that were being settled by a defendant named Jeffrey Epstein. At the time, I really had no idea who he was, but was told he had been pleaded guilty to having sex with underage girls, had just gotten out of prison, and was now being sued by these girls. Supposedly, these girls did not want to relive the horror of their experience at a trial (who could blame them) and were willing to settle confidentially out of court for a stream of payments totaling $20 million. Each. These girls were tired of fighting and tired of waiting and anyone who settled was willing to sell their settlement for a one-time lump payment of $10 million. These were by far the largest individual settlements we were funding and quite honestly the reason for the massive discount was its size and the number of cases that had to be settled.

 

Another aspect of these settlements was their confidentiality in nature. In general, there was little if any information available about the underlying case, even to me. Here however, suddenly there was a plethora of information available to me about the Epstein case. I, as well of one or two of the investors, was permitted to go through court filings and even read depositions and see exhibits. The investor that I can say for certain looked at these documents even had a law degree. I vividly remember looking at a flight manifest from Epstein’s plane that had the names of Bill Clinton and Prince Andrew listed. While my memory is not as fresh as it was in 2009, I seem to recall seeing the names David Copperfield, Robert Mueller and Alan Dershowitz as well. According to Scott, the reason these settlements had to be kept so confidential was not because of Epstein; everyone knew he was a rapist. It was the other people who were with him, who may or may not have victimized these poor girls that were forcing Epstein to keep things confidential.

 

The issue I had was that these cases were just too big. I needed more information. I needed to speak with someone who was intimately involved with these settlements. I told this to Scott, and he arranged for me to speak with the lawyer who was representing these women. He arranged for me to speak with Brad Edwards.

 

My conversation with Brad Edwards was direct and to the point. I asked him straight out if these were his clients and he confirmed that they were. I asked him if they were entering into settlements with Jeff Epstein and he confirmed that they were. I asked him why they would not go to court, and he told me that the pain of reliving the experience was just too great for them to bare. I asked why they cannot wait to receive their $20 million and he explained that they have no money and that they were so traumatized by Epstein that they needed their money up front. He claimed his clients also did not believe Epstein would ultimately pay. I then asked him why the discount was so great, and he explained that since there were so many settlements, it would be impossible to fund them all if the cost to the investor was greater. He also made it seem that he was not giving his clients the option to take the stream of payments. He made it seem that he was telling his clients that if the settle, they also have to sell their settlement to the investor so that everyone is the same. There was only one problem with that Edwards was telling me: None of it was true since none of the settlements, as it turned out actually existed.

 

We had looked through thousands of pages of documents. We had read through depositions. We had seen settlement documents signed by Jeff Epstein. As a result of all of that data as well as Brad Edwards’ confirmation we had funded at least $40 million in “Epstein Settlements”. But now even years later I still cannot believe that Edwards lied to my face, that he aided and abetted Scott Rothstein. Watching him today on the Netflix series, having him portray himself as a hero to these women made me sick. Yes, to the extent that he has been their advocate he is to be praised but so should the other two lawyers featured in the series. Unlike the other lawyers, Edwards exploited his clients. The question is why. Why did he lie to all of these investors and exploit his clients in the name of what turned out to be a fraud? Did he do so because he was getting a payment from Rothstein? Surely, that should have come out by now.  Did he do so simply out of loyalty to his boss, as many others had done?  Did he do so because Scott assured him it was no big deal? To this day I have no idea why he did it, I just know he lied to me and as a result of his lies $40 million was lost.

 

It should not be lost what I mentioned before that around the same time we were funding the settlements, Acosta appeared in Rothstein’s orbit. Coincidence? Maybe. I have come to learn that there are no coincidences in life. In the Netflix series, Edwards claims he was left out of all plea discussion surrounding Epstein. He appears outraged! Yet, it is totally unfathomable to me that he and Acosta did not at least cross paths during the summer of 2009. It is unfathomable to me that Scott did not arrange for them to meet. It is unfathomable to me that even if he had heard that Acosta was in the vicinity that he would not have accosted (pun intended) him! The only explanation is that Edwards is a liar and that he (and possibly even Acosta) were complicit in Rothstein’s fraud.

 

Now there is one major problem with my conspiracy theory and a major reason that I am not to believed. Rothstein, in the years following his being sent off to prison for 50 years gave a series of depositions. In one of those depositions he seems to exonerate Edwards and says that Edwards had no idea that his records were being used to perpetuate a fraud. For me this was very confusing, and it has puzzled me for many years. It is especially puzzling in light of the lies Scott spewed about me and many others at his depositions. Yet for Edwards, someone who lied to me, got a free pass. Sure, it is possible that Rothstein simply forgot, but why go out of his way to exonerate the man? It simply made no sense.  Today, as I was watching the Netflix special, it finally came to me. Rothstein had been hoping for a break in his sentence. He was hoping that by implicating others the prosecutors would recommend his sentence be substantially reduced. Let us not forget the position that Alex Acosta had formerly held; he was the US Attorney for the Southern District of Florida. He was appointed by President George W. Bush. In other words, he was the former boss of the same people who had the power to reduce Rothstein’s sentence. Is it really out of the realm of possibility that the prosecutors told Rothstein to keep whatever dirt he had on Acosta to himself? Clearly, since he and Edwards were so connected to the Epstein case, any implication of Edwards would inevitably lead back to Acosta! This is especially so since Acosta left the USAO and started hanging around with Rothstein at the same time Edwards starts helping Rothstein perpetuate a fraud. The prosecutors needed to keep their old boss and by extension out of this mess. Opening up that can of worms would certainly have reflected poorly on the office given the amazing plea deal given to Epstein. It certainly would not have helped Rothstein get a reduction! That is my theory anyway.

It does give rise to another issue and I guess it applies to every defendant in the Rothstein mess. If the prosecutors were trying to protect their old boss and by extension the entire office, it does taint the entire investigation. Prosecutors are able to quite easily steer an investigation in anyway they can. It would seem, that since Epstein was such a big part of the Rothstein scheme that the entire office should have recused itself because of that every conflict relating to Epstein. However, none of them did so. It does call the entire direction into question and could very well be a reason for any of the defendants to appeal their convictions. That however is a side point and not relevant to the story today.

 

So, there you have it. That is my story according to the best of my recollection. In light of the series it is a story that I had to finally put on paper so to speak. I did fund it cathartic to finally get it off my chest as I had been keeping it bottled up for so long. So, will the real Brad Edwards please stand up?

MICHAEL COHEN: WORLD"S DUMBEST MAN

I have written a few blogs about Michael Cohen. I have said that prison would be very bad for him, and for what I am told, it was not great for him to be there. Michael Cohen went to Otisville, AKA the “Jewish Prison”. This is a prison that “caters” to Orthodox Jews; Jews who overwhelmingly support Donald Trump. Just about every Jew who get convicted of a white-collar crime that carries a sentence of less than 10 years, but more than five years ends up doing at least a little bit of time in Otisville. Unfortunately, Otisville does not have an RDAP (alcohol rehab) program at the camp. The irony of that odd fact cannot be overstated! So aside for the time spent at other prisons to complete the RDAP program, most white-collar Jews end up in Otisville.

So, what do you think happened to Mr. Cohen, who bad mouthed the Donald Trump to try and save himself, as soon as he entered prison where the President has a 90% approval rating? Well naturally he was attacked! That is what I have been told at least. A person with a brain, and I think we can establish Mr. Cohen is not very normal, would have asked to go to a prison where he would not be entering a hostile environment. While he clearly was going into any prison as a celebrity, he could have chosen one where he would not be walking into the proverbial lion’s den. One can call it ignorance or call it arrogance. It was just dumb.

 

Well Michael Cohen, like many other prisoners was released from prison due to the COVID pandemic. Well he was not exactly released, but he was given permission to serve the remainder of his sentence at home. This was not a perk unique to Michael Cohen as just about every prisoner gets to serve the lesser up 10% of the total sentence or six months under home confinement. While this is not prison, it is not exactly freedom either. For the most part an ankle bracelet must be worn, and every move the inmate makes must be reported. A call must be made prior to leaving a current location such as home and upon arrival at the pre-approved destination, such as work or church. In other words, an inmate under home confinement is not allowed to go to the moves, go out to dinner, go to the gym or even go for a stroll. Home confinement is not freedom! The punishment for not abiding by these restrictions is having the home confinement revoked and being sent right back to prison. Everyone knows this!

 

One would think that any prisoner especially one as famous as Michael Cohen would bide his time at home and play by the rules. This is especially so since Michael Cohen is so recognizable that if he is to violate the rules someone would find out. One would also assume that these rules, under the COVID environment would be easy to abide by. So, what does our genius Michael Cohen do? Well he decided it would be a good idea to go out to dinner, at night, with friends and sit outside. I mean really??!!! Again, is it ignorance, arrogance or just stupidity? Well predictably, Michael Cohen, who is quite possibly the most foolish man in the country, was photographed and by the New York Post which obviously resulted in the Bureau of Prisons finding out he was not following the rules of home confinement!

 

The BOP now had a real problem. Ultimately Michael Cohen had to report to the probation office, where he was cuffed, shackled and sent back to…. you guessed it, Otisville! Now, however since he is coming from the outside, he is stuck in solitary confinement! What’s more he is now viewed as someone who cannot follow the rules so there is a good chance that he is not even going to get the home confinement time that he would have gotten had he not benefited from the COVID pandemic! All of this so that he can go to dinner. Is that normal?

One can only conclude that Michael Cohen is quite possibly the most stupid man in America. How he found himself in the President’s orbit for so many years is beyond logic, but he most certainly did not get there based on his intellect! Home Confinement is a privilege! Do not be like Michael Cohen!

 

TODAY IS MY LAST DAY OF PROBATION!!!!!!!

Today is my last day of probation. This is very different from the day of my official release from custody which I wrote about three years ago http://www.whitecollarguru.com/2017/04/isnt-it-euphoric-reflections-on-freedom.html In many ways today is a bigger celebration than the time of my release from custody three years ago

 It is a day that for which I have been waiting 10 years, five months and one week. I served three years of probation after having served one month in the Federal Detention Center, 10 months in a prison camp, almost five months in a halfway house and two months at under home confinement. My probationary period has lasted longer than my entire sentence.   It is a very very big deal that this day has finally arrived. As of midnight tonight, I will no longer be under the thumb of the United States criminal justice system. It is a day that I had been looking forward to for a very long time. I had celebratory events planned for tonight as well as tomorrow. It is therefore the ultimate irony that I am completing probation while under quarantine! The celebrations, as planned will not take place, but there will be celebrations, nonetheless.

Just to give a brief description of probation, or the legal term Supervised Release, is not prison. If I had to describe it, it would call it annoying on a practical day to day level. Permission needs to be granted by the probation officer to travel outside of your judicial district and that request form permission needs to be submitted two weeks prior to traveling. In order to leave the country, the sentencing judge needs to approve it. There are unannounced visits from the probation officer, which of course is just a minor inconvenience. There is the random drug testing where an officer needs to watch you leave a urine sample, which is of course humiliating. There is monthly financial reporting which again is just something to remember to do. But all of this is as I said simply an inconvenience. It is the psychological effect of probation that is the most difficult. It is the knowledge that even the smallest of infractions, even say a speeding ticket could land someone back in front of the judge or back in prison, especially if that interaction with the officer of the law is not reported to the probation officer. In my case, it was the knowledge that even over 10 years later I am still serving my sentence; that I need permission for something as mundane as a trip to New York. No, it is not the actual restrictions of probation that make it so difficult, it is the actual knowledge that even after having served a sentence, even after having paid the debt to society, it is still not over.

Now that it is ending, I can reflect on my life as it was then and what it is now. In my sentencing speech made in 2015 I told the judge that I was disgusted by the person I had become in 2009. I had become an egomaniac (even by my lofty standards) whose only drive was to accumulate as much power and money as possible. I cared about the power more than the money. It mattered to me more who I was associated with, which governor or political candidate who I can meet than what they stood for. Moreover, none of my friends, bothered to call me out on it, not that I would have listened anyway. I would have simply attributed their criticism to jealousy.

I now reflect on the person I was in 2015, as I was getting indicted, pleading guilty and ultimately sentenced. That person is also someone of whom I am not proud. I was depressed, my self-esteem was battered, and I thought that my life was over. I was sad all the time even though I did my best to put on a brave face for my family and friends. I was also angry all the time. I had lost my career, which was going quite well even before 2008, I was in a business I did not like, I had settled with a bankruptcy trustee to give up the vast majority of my wealth which included funds that had nothing to do with my case. I was angry because I felt I was being sent to prison not because I was guilty, but because the prosecutors were able to coerce a plea deal out of me  which I had taken rather than go to trial where I could neither afford the representation nor the risk of losing. I was always anxious, I drank a lot, and was self-medicating because I was unable to sleep at night. I have said before that that experience was in many ways worse than prison and that at least getting sentenced ended that stage. I was in a bad place and that person is also someone who I am ashamed to have become.

I look at myself today and I see a survivor. The experience of the past 10 years has changed me for the better and has transformed every aspect of my life in ways I could never have imagined. I am not saying this to brag, but they threw everything they had at me and I am still standing today. I am certainly a different person. I have a job that I love but one that I would never have if I had not gone through this experience. I have lost a lot of friends, but I learned very early on in the process that the friends who do not stand by you when you are at your worst were never friends at all. They were friends of convenience but of little substance. In essence my circle of friends has gotten smaller, but they are real friendships. In the three years that I have been on probation, I have made new friends both socially and professionally. These are relationships that had I not gone through this experience I would not have and as I sit here today, I view these relationships as indispensable. These new people in my life know my history, and not only accept me for it but respect me for it. They are not judgmental in any way because they know who I am today and everything in the past just does not matter. It is the relationships that you forge during and after traumatic life events that are the relationships worth having and I am thankful every day not only for the friends and family that stood by me but especially for those new friendships I have made which never would even exist but my going through this experience. There really is a master plan in the universe.

So, what’s next? The very idea that this is finally over is euphoric. It is surreal. I actually have trouble believing it myself. For a former felon the rebuilding never stops. He always feels he has something to prove because he always thinks people are talking about his past. I don’t think that feeling will every go away, no matter how much success or failure I ultimately realize in this next stage of my life. The key is to make the right decisions, forge real relationships, and never ever let this horrible experience, and it is a horrible one, get control and ruin your life. It is an experience that can only make you stronger, it is an experience that has the potential to make you a better person and it is an experience that shows you the fabric of true friendship.

As we sit here under virtual quarantine, we are all bemoaning loss of our freedom. It is hard for all of us. But it is important to remember, and not lose site of what is really important. Yes, it is hard and yes, we cannot go about our lives and it is true we cannot have the celebrations we wanted to enjoy. We are all in a sort of prison. As a former prisoner, the best advice I can give is to focus on what really matters in times like this. If everyone in your family is healthy, be grateful because there are over a million people suffering with this terrible disease. If you are not alone be grateful because plenty of people are suffering alone in isolation right now. And remember to the extent possible engage in acts of kindness, because as with every prison sentence this will end, and we will emerge better and stronger.