Yesterday President Trump pardoned Irving Stitsky, a former sales manager at Stratton Oakmont. In the early 90s Stitsky worked with Jordan Belfort and was responsible for many pumps and dumps, the most notable Steven Madden shoes which Belfort and Madden were charged with. .Stitsky was later barred from the securities industry and started his career as a private money-raiser and stock promoter. From 1997-2006 Stitsky participated in a number of pumps and dump schemes earning him millions of dollars. In 2006 Stitsky was arrested and sentenced to 33 months in prison at the age of 61. Years later in 2010 Stitsky was at it again this time with a new company called Cobalt. Stitsky defrauded investors out of more than 20 million dollars much of it used on luxury personal items.
At the time of this arrest, Stitsky was offered a plea of 7-9 years. Stitsky turned down the plea and went to trial, he was found guilty and sentenced to 85 years in prison. This was a shocking sentence especially for someone in their mid-sixties as it was an obvious life sentence. If you are a white-collar felon l you need to learn 2 important lessons from Irving Stitsky.
- Committing a crime as a convicted white-collar you put yourself at risk of a significant prison sentence. Depending upon the amount of money involved you could face decades in prison-like Irving Stitsky.
2. If you are charged with a federal crime, you need to weigh the risks of going to trial. Only 2 percent of defendants prevail at trial. When you decide to go to trial and lose the government will usually ask for the maximum prison sentence. In this situation, you must weigh all of the risks and options and make a decision based on what will give you the least exposure. Not all people do and those are the people we sometimes see serving decades in prison. Unless they get pardoned like Irving Stitsky.
