Reference no: EM133287084

Case: You are an attorney asked to represent a businessperson who was one among a number of defendants in the nationwide admissions prosecution, in which financiers, lawyers, and celebrities were charged with conspiring to cheat on exams or bribe coaches in order to get their children into prestigious colleges. More than 50 wealthy people paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to a man named William Singer, who supposedly had a way of bribing college coaches to falsify children's athletic accomplishments and then request the admissions office to admit these unqualified students. Your client is in the real estate management business, has no prior criminal record, and has been cooperating with federal investigators. He has decided to plead guilty and admit his involvement in the scheme. The prosecution had demanded that your client serve time in prison to set an example and to deter others who would think of bribing people to get their kids into college.

Question:

Devise an argument to sway the sentencing judge. Think about such issues as whether it is fair or even ethical to imprison nondangerous white-collar criminals to set an example. Should they merely suffer financial penalties? Are there any other alternatives? What is the purpose of putting someone like your client in prison for a nonviolent white-collar offense? Is he really a danger to society? Or would it be better to adopt the suggestion of Billy Ray Valentine (played by Eddie Murphy in the classic 1983 film Trading Places): "You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people"?