A gift from one crook to another

[Hummer]

(But lumps of coal for the law abiding victims)


https://www.nationalreview.com/the-morning-jolt/meet-the-monsters-released-by-joe-biden/


Meet the Monsters Released by Joe Biden



By Jim Geraghty
December 13, 2024 9:29 AM



On the menu today: It?s the sort of below-the-fold headline that comes and goes in the blink of a news cycle ? ?Biden commutes nearly 1,500 sentences and pardons 39 people.? There?s a human being behind every one of those commutations and pardons. And indeed, sometimes taking a little time off the sentence of a person who made dumb mistakes early in life can be a justified and morally right step toward justice. There?s a reason most prison systems are called a ?Department of Corrections? ? the aim is to put people back on the correct path in life.

But in today?s newsletter, we?re not going to get those heartwarming stories of those excessively punished. Today we?re going to examine the shameless crooks who Biden let out early.


Biden?s Monstrous Pardons


In a released statement Thursday ? because you know Joe Biden wasn?t going to answer questions from reporters on this ? the president announced the commutation of 1,499 sentences and 39 pardons. ?America was built on the promise of possibility and second chances,? Biden said in the statement. ?As president, I have the great privilege of extending mercy to people who have demonstrated remorse and rehabilitation, restoring opportunity for Americans to participate in daily life and contribute to their communities.?


No doubt, a factor in the White House?s decision was the grief Biden got for offering a blanket pardon for his son Hunter, both erasing his ?six felony and six misdemeanor convictions and immunity for any additional crimes committed or taken part in during the period from January 1, 2014 through December 1, 2024,? and the accusation that Biden was most interested in the pardon power when it came to his own family.


Meet some of the beneficiaries of Biden?s mercy. Unless you live near Wilkes-Barre, Pa., you?ve probably never heard of the ?Kids-For-Cash Scandal?:


Michael Conahan, 72, was convicted along with former judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., 74, of funneling juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers in exchange for $2.1 million in kickbacks.


Conahan pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy charges and was sentenced in 2011 to 17? years in prison. However, he petitioned the courts for a ?compassionate release? during the COVID-19 pandemic, writing that he was ?in grave danger of not only contracting the virus, but of dying from the virus.?


He was released to home confinement in Florida under federal supervision in June 2020.


Sandy Fonzo, who famously confronted Ciavarella outside federal court over the suicide of her son after he was placed in juvenile detention, called the development ?deeply painful.?


?I am shocked and I am hurt,? Fonzo said in a statement. ?Conahan?s actions destroyed families, including mine, and my son?s death is a tragic reminder of the consequences of his abuse of power. This pardon feels like an injustice for all of us who still suffer. Right now I am processing and doing the best I can to cope with the pain that this has brought back.?


Got that? He took bribes to send kids to for-profit juvenile prisons with sentences disproportionate to their crimes, and one of the kids killed himself.


And then there?s the notorious former chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party from the mid-?90s to 2009:


President Joe Biden on Thursday commuted the sentence of disgraced former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora, ending the former Democrat?s punishment for widespread corruption that landed him in prison for more than a decade and caused a complete overhaul of the county?s government. . . .


Prosecutors said Dimora made about $450,000 off bribes, including trips to Las Vegas, prostitutes and an infamous outdoor stone-fired pizza oven installed in the backyard of his Independence home.


Dimora was initially sentenced in 2012 to 28 years in what was, at the time, one of the Ohio?s most expansive corruption cases in history.


Unless you live near Dixon, Ill., you?ve probably never heard of Rita Crundwell, who was four years shy of completing a 19-year, seven-month prison sentence for fraud:


Rita Crundwell, the former Dixon city comptroller convicted of embezzling $53.7 million from the city ? pegged as the largest municipal theft in U.S. history ? is among one of roughly 1,500 people granted clemency by President Joe Biden just weeks before he leaves office. . . .


Crundwell was taken out of city hall in handcuffs April 17, 2012, accused of stealing millions of city funds across her tenure in office. She used the funds to pay for a lavish lifestyle raising champion quarter horses, a $2 million tour bus, jewels, furs, multiple homes and other trappings while Dixon struggled to pay for infrastructure and other projects.


Crundwell was not the only notorious fraudster in Illinois to get a commutation from Biden:


[Biden?s list] also included another infamous Illinois fraudster: Eric Bloom, who bilked investors out of more than $665 million in the biggest financial fraud case ever tried in Chicago.


Bloom, 59, got a 14-year sentence in 2015 for wire and investment advisor fraud as head of Sentinel Management Group Inc., which used customers? money to take out a massive loan for Bloom?s own risky portfolio, which crashed.


Bloom strung along key investors in 2003 by artificially boosting their returns at the expense of less favored clients, costing them all more than half a billion dollars by the time the scheme fell apart in 2007.


Prosecutors declared it the largest financial fraud case ever prosecuted in Chicago?s federal court.


Out in Nevada:


Leon Benzer, 57, was serving a 188-month prison sentence for one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, two counts of mail fraud, and two counts of tax evasion. He is listed as assigned to RRM Phoenix ? a residential reentry office in Maricopa County.


Back in 2018, ?federal Judge James Mahan heard a sobbing Benzer apologize for his misdeeds and heard an emotional plea on video from Benzer?s struggling wife and children, but prosecutors reminded the court of the thousands of homeowners who were victimized, many of them frail, elderly, and now destitute.?


Biden took four years off the sentence of notorious Albany fraudster Timothy McGinn. He was supposed to serve 15 years for convictions of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, securities fraud, and filing false tax returns:


In sentencing McGinn, Judge Hurd said that what caused McGinn?s downfall was his arrogance in conducting business without regard for the law or the rules as long as he made money for himself and his favorite clients.


U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian said, ?As the stories told by the victims during the sentencing hearings today made clear, nothing can ever undo the terrible harm Timothy M. McGinn and David L. Smith inflicted on investors. Through false representations and material omissions, McGinn and Smith obtained investors? hard-earned money and used it as their own. They covered their tracks by directing the creation of false accounting entries and the movement of money among accounts, and by misleading regulators. Their longstanding personal enrichment plan defrauded 841 victims of $30 million, leaving many investors devastated.?


Biden commuted the sentence for convicted fraudster and former Jreck Subs principal Christopher M. Swartz, who was sentenced to twelve and a half years in prison for fraud and tax evasion, and will serve only seven years. From his sentencing:


?For over a decade, Mr. Swartz stole millions from lenders, investors, and the United States, using multiple schemes, shell companies and layers of transactions in an effort to escape detection,? said Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Goldberg. ?His 12 ? year sentence sends the clear message to those involved in such financial chicanery that their schemes ? no matter how complex ? will be uncovered, investigated and successfully prosecuted.?


?Christopher Swartz stole millions of dollars from investors and lenders and cheated the public treasury out of millions of dollars of taxes,? said Acting U.S. Attorney Jaquith. ?His elaborate scheme to defraud relied on a mind-boggling web of accounts and enterprises and concealment of his assets and diversions of funds. Swartz inflicted terrible harm on people who trusted him with money they needed to support their families, educate their children, pay for medical care, and retire. This case sends a strong message that such treachery will not be tolerated.?


Joe Biden has a real soft spot in his heart for fraudsters, swindlers, and embezzlers, huh? I guess game respects game.


Yes, these convicts are on home release or in halfway houses and were let out of prison during the Covid pandemic. Many of these convicts are elderly. Maybe they should have started their notorious crime sprees earlier in life.


My guess is, you?re a largely or entirely law-abiding citizen. You?ve never taken a bribe, spent money on Las Vegas prostitutes, or defrauded anyone. You?ve never swindled the frail and elderly and left them destitute. You?ve never taken actions that left innocent people ?devastated.?


Has Joe Biden ever done you a favor as big as this?


The complete clemency recipient list can be found here.

[BushMasterBoy]

The guy is an idiot. His moral compass points towards the dollar sign. The American public were hoping for an individual with impeccable standards. What is important now is we correctly address the issues at hand.

[FoxtArt]

I was familiar with this case before

Michael Conahan, 72, was convicted along with former judge Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., 74, of funneling juvenile defendants to two private, for-profit detention centers in exchange for $2.1 million in kickbacks.

absolutely aggravating that a judge gets their sentence commuted, they are nearly impossible to convict in any circumstance to begin with.

For background.... It is VERY common to see kickback schemes or outright partnerships in many small/medium courthouses, including in Colorado. Some hardly take effort to hide it. E.g. judge's brother starts a drug rehab program, judge sentences 100% of potential or even vaguely potential clients to his brother's rehab program. In my experience, it feels like 50% of small population counties have that exact issue. The Conahan/Ciaverella case was the only one I'm aware of that was successfully prosecuted, because judicial corruption is outright untouchable.

[buffalobo]

Here in Colorado it tends to be half way houses judges are investors in.

If you're unarmed, you are a victim.

[Sawin]

That kind of conflict of interest is disgusting and akin to the insider trading BS folks are sick of coming from Washington. Drain the swamp!

[Clint45]

Most Presidential pardons are limited to people convicted of a single minor federal crime decades earlier who jumped through many hoops to prove rehabilitation.

Now he's handing out dozens of "open pardons" spanning ten years "in case Trump has you charged for something nobody knows about yet." Open pardons should be deemed void, as a charge must be specified. What he is attempting is simply carte blanche. Hunter may be a lot of things, but he isn't James Bond. Biden gave him a "license to ill" like the Beastie Boys album. This goes well beyond poor optics and seems to approach RICO levels of corruption.

[Hummer]

I suspect the open and blanket pardons for crimes not yet known, charged or adjudicated will be challenged and that the Supreme Court will exercise some checks on executive abuses.

[FoxtArt]

Hey I could be convinced to be on board with blanket pardons....

How about a blanket pardon for any known, unknown, or future violations of the 1986 NFA Act? Just imagine, the executive could invalidate any federal legislation! I'm not sure if he has done the open ones yet, but this is why blanket pardons will be "shot" down.

[eddiememphis]

The guy is an idiot. His moral compass points towards the dollar sign.

I agree with both statements.

However, I have serious doubt Biden was aware of any of the people or the details about their cases.

At this point, the inmates are running the asylum and Biden is signing anything put in front of him.

The three months between Election Day and Inauguration Day is way too much time for the outgoing administration to cause unrepairable havoc for the incoming administration.

One week should be enough to count the votes and for the Electoral College elector to cast theirs. Congress tabulates and the new crew takes over. Three months is nonsense.

[Hummer]

While 3 months may be longer than necessary, an advantage is that the incoming administration has time to assemble a team that's ready to go to work. In 2016 after the inauguration there was a prolonged period of weeding through the principals. This time, some of the weeding has already been done.