Did Kozlowski get justice?

[Utah]

It is pretty clear that Kozlowski is a greedy scumbag. However, I have serious doubts about whether he did anything criminal and I doubt he deserves 30 years for his behavior.

I am sure that the company and the board were well aware of his spending and they were fine with it. I think it was easy for the prosecution to paint any picture after the fact and it would be really easy to play to the jury's emotions, especially in the post Enron days. Additionally, it would aslo be easy for the board to now say - "oh geez, we had no idea" - to cover their own ass. There is no way he spent money like he did without everyone knowing.

It is quite possible that Kozlowski just got completely screwed.

[BadBoyBenny]

I think Kozlowski had the board in his pocket, all of them were either his buddies or picked because they were yes men. I don't know what you mean by "the company" knew what he was doing. Kozlowski pretty much was the company, there was no one else at Tyco capable of standing up to him.

I don't think 30 years is fair at all, but considering you can get several years in jail for growing pot, it seems reasonable in comparison to other penalties given out by our justice system. I think a 2-5 year sentence and confiscating most of his assets would have been more appropriate.

[Matty]

I don't think you get convicted on 30 out of 31 charges of grand larceny, conspiracy, falsifying business records and securities fraud based on a "picture" painted by outmatched prosecutors.

[Tacjedi]

Free John Rigas!!

[lastchance]

If he did, you could certainly cut a deal with him for the rest of the board. He's got to have something in his back pocket.

[MMMMMM]

I don't know but 30 years does strike me as excessive.

Actually I often rather think that ALL non-violent crimes would be better dealt with by required restitution plans (at least partial restitution as full is not always practical), and community service hours.

Better for the victims that way too--and the convicted person, being strapped financially while trying to make restitution, working full-time, and having his weekends taken up with community service hours, is actually undergoing a rather severe punishment if it lasts quite some time.

I read something about how in Japan, offenders are given restitution plans as a first option. Only if they screw up do they then go to prison. Didn't read any more detail on it though.

[HtotheNootch]

I think this sentence is great. It turns massive corporate fraud into a real -EV play.

If the worst your going to get is 18 months in Danbury, the percentage of people who would commit these types of crimes is way higher.

[MMMMMM]

[ QUOTE ]
If the worst your going to get is 18 months in Danbury, the percentage of people who would commit these types of crimes is way higher.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not my point at all; I'm not sure if you were trying to respond to my post (which you did) or were just responding to the original poster's post.

Anyway if Kozlowski had to go on a restitution plan for, say, the next 10-20 years, working full-time to do it; and do 16 hours of community service nearly every weekend, that would be a far worse punishment than 18 months in Danbury.

Also, it would be better for those who lost money to the fraud.

Not sure what is really fair in this scenario or if Kozlowski received more proportional blame than his actions warranted (as another poster wondered).

[zerosum]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyway if Kozlowski had to go on a restitution plan for, say, the next 10-20 years, working full-time to do it; and do 16 hours of community service nearly every weekend, that would be a far worse punishment than 18 months in Danbury.

Also, it would be better for those who lost money to the fraud.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not to worry. He is likely to face restitution in addition to prison time. The funds for restitution would come from the sale of any assets he obtained with his ill-gotten gain.

[MtSmalls]

Anyone remember Michael Milken??He was given a minimal jail sentence (3 years??) at a "white collar resort prison" and a seven figure fine. Which he paid for with a check.

massive fines don't deter the criminals when they make more from the crime.

[TomCollins]

The problem is, EV(stealing from company) = p(getting caught) * EV(getting caught)+ p(not getting caught)*EV(not getting caught).

If EV(getting caught) = minimally worse than not stealing anything, we have a problem.

[adios]

[ QUOTE ]
Anyone remember Michael Milken??He was given a minimal jail sentence (3 years??) at a "white collar resort prison" and a seven figure fine. Which he paid for with a check.

massive fines don't deter the criminals when they make more from the crime.

[/ QUOTE ]

Actually it was 9 figures ($200,000,000) and he also had to pay out twice as much lawsuits against him. I'm not stating that I disagree with you though. But in comparing the Milken case to the Koslowski case I think we have to evaluate each one on it's merits regarding what kind of plea bargains should be struck. I'm fairly certain that the Milken case was more iffy in getting a conviction (I realize that in the original trial the jury was hung in the Kozlowski case). I could be convinced otherwise on that though. Basically the threat of prosecuting his brother Lowell got Milken to cop to a plea if memory serves. Milken now is involved in charitable work and at least for him, his sentence appears to me to have accomplished what it was meant to accomplish.

I would think that lawsuits will be coming against Kozlowski and Swartz if not already filed.