A much better idea would have been to shoplift from grocery store. Maybe he needed the money for something else. I feel for him.
The real outrage is the AIG guy’s sentence.
It sure sounds to me like the bank robber wanted to go someplace where he could be assured of his three squares. He took the money, then took himself off to the police station. he got what he wanted.
StG
I pointed out the facts of the situation as presented. Clearly he wasn’t born a homeless drug addict. He’s made decisions that affected his life in a negative way including the robbing of a bank.
It’s not the amount, it’s the act. A bank robbery is considered a violent act. The penalties are stiff to discourage the behavior. In this case, his sentence does not reflect the maximum penalty and is more in line with armed robbery. He made a choice having some idea of the penalties involved and then turned himself in. It appears as if he did this deliberately to get arrested.
That’s certainly your opinion and when you get robbed you’re free to hand the robber an award for good citizenship.
Somewhat related examples might be . . . “WTF, man, who goes to prison for two years just for lying about something?!” Well, you might if it’s an FBI agent you’re talking to. “WTF man, who goes to jail for just saying you want to hurt somebody?!” Well, you might if it’s the President you’re talking about. ISTM society assigns penalties not just for the act itself, but the context in which it’s taken.
Do you think he sounds like a serial bank robber? It seems he didn’t even have a gun, he only took $100 and then he gave the rest back. Afterwards, he confessed! Do you consider it a possibility that the guy is actually not a “bad guy”, just an extrordinarily bad decision maker?
Yes, bank robbery is a crime. All bank robberies are not equivalent however. This isn’t some Heat style heist - it’s a guy who obviously isn’t employable, trying to get his hands on a bit of money, so that he didn’t get kicked out of rehab. Do you consider it insignificant that he didn’t take as much money as he could have? Or that he felt guilty and confessed?
I’ve been robbed in person before. Not a particularly pleasant experience. Fifteen year sentences, however, should be reserved for hardened criminals and serious crimes. This guy may be a fuckup; but in fifteen years time all he’ll be is an institutionalised wreck, even less suited to society than he is at the moment. I’d imagine he will also show some resentment to the society that showed him no compassion whatsoever, when he did the “right thing” and fessed up.
If the sentence was a couple of months, I’d be ok with it. That would leave him a decent chance of coming out, starting a new chapter and hopefully making a better go of it this time around. But instead, when he gets out he’ll be 71 years old (dob is on his mugshot in link above). Maybe he gets paroled early, gets out when he’s 65. Just in time to retire. All the time he’s costing the state thousands per year. If he is actually extremely dangerous, if he has a history of assaults, violent robberies, etc, and he’s demonstrably a serious danger to society, then fair enough. But nothing in the article suggests that he is particularly dangerous, in fact his actions suggest the opposite.
Tell me, if you think this guy got what he deserved for the choices he made; what sentence does the AIG guy deserve? At 15 years per $100 dollars, that’s. . . 75 million years?
What sentence is fair for Mr AIG?
15 years? Luxury! This poor victim of society got life for having a drink (which is legal, BTW).
Magiver, I seem to recall you complaining that we pay too much in food stamps, and that they should be reduced.
I guess in this era of Hollywood, even O. Henry could use a reboot.
You’re making value judgments about someone you know nothing about. He got a trial and all the facts were considered. He was not given the maximum sentence and will not likely serve the entire sentence he did get. He may truly be someone who makes extraordinarily bad decisions but he made them and there are no “do-overs” in court. Considering how stupid the whole event was it seems likely that he chose to go to prison.
Since I don’t know who Mr AIG is I can’t comment on the one sentence blurb that was posted. However, Bernard Madoff got sentenced to 150 years in prison for fraud and that seems fair to me.
It’s easy to read half a paragraph and rage against the machine. You’re right that nothing suggests he’s a violent robber. There is also nothing to suggest that he’s in line for sainthood. That’s what the court system had to decide.
They you would recall incorrectly.
Many homeless people suffer mental impairment of one sort or another. Obtaining help may not be easy even if it is available.
In GD threads one often sees right-wingers write, in effect “All I have is intelligence, experience, skill, determination, clear thinking, and some savings, and I have no trouble finding a job. What’s wrong with these stupid lazy bums?”
(If the point isn’t clear, let’s move to BBQ Pit.)
For every imprisoned Madoff there are dozens of criminal embezzlers scot-free. (Unless you use some hyper-literal definition, wherein an unconvicted criminal is not a criminal.)
One may not even need to go beyond the Madoff family to make this point. Do Madoff’s sons still have wealth? Does anyone really believe they were ignorant?
Really? Cite?
Madoff’s sons turned him in when they figured out what he was doing. Consider your ignorance fought.
Sounds to me like the same thing. It’s a kind of thing a surprising amount of people do, when it starts getting cold. I don’t think he was expecting any more than a winter’s ‘vacation’.
Is that clear? The scam was already being exposed; isn’t it just as likely that 72-year old Bernie, having enjoyed the good life, became the family’s sacrificial lamb?
I’ve no evidence that his sons were aware of the crimes.
But, given the immensity of the fraud, the huge amount of prevarication and phony bookkeeping to pursue the fraud, and the fact that the sons were top executives in the firm, I must include that
EITHER they were in on it,
OR they were very very stupid and/or very willfully ignorant.
Hope this helps your ignorance. 
It’s not like it was hard to research.
This is very well known, fully compatible with everything I wrote, and certainly compatible with the demonstrated fact the the scheme was about to be exposed in any event. Self-admission is the obvious and well-known way to try to mitigate a crime.
On your previous bizarre request for examples of embezzlement which have been unpunished, I’m reminded (by settlement checks arriving in mail) of the very widespread 2003 mutual fund scandal. AFAIK, no one went to prison for that.
And BTW, Mr. Magiver, I find your diction excessively snarky.
Oh well if he got a trial, that settles it. All sentences are completely fair, if someone gets fifteen years they clearly deserve it. Like this guy who got 50 to life for stealing video tapes - I mean, if he didn’t want life in prison, he shouldn’t have taken the tapes, right?
I find your faith in the justice system rather touching.
So because he’s not a saint he deserves fifteen years?
Answer this: based on the limited information available, is this a fair sentence or not? You seem to be arguing that it is. Can you confirm this?
More Louisiana fun:
Sounds to me like that’s almost certainly the case.
I’m amazed that the AIG guy got such a lengthy sentence – he must’ve had a really crappy lawyer.