The Scales of Justice
Are not tipped in your favor!
The average US citizen is woefully ignorant when the moment strikes and he or she finds themselves indicted by the federal government. I was that average guy, and wow! Did I get a lesson or what?!?!
Plea bargains aren’t just a dime a dozen in the federal system. They’re more like a penny a dozen. Here’s a startling fact: Fully 97% of federal indictments are pled out! That’s right! If the government indicts 100 people, it somehow manages to convince 97 of them to take a plea deal.
How do they do that? By offering the defendant a deal he can’t refuse! That’s how. Is that because it’s a good deal — or more like a deal he’ll surely regret not taking if he chooses that option?
Take my case for example. I could accept three counts of tax fraud, lose 2/3rds of my life savings, and face 3 years behind bars if I took my deal. I would also have to teach a course in Escort Economics 101 to my DA and a host of other government employees who worked at Homeland Security, the NYPD, the State Department, and the IRS. Teaching that course would cost me tens of thousands of dollars while my $500/hour lawyer sat watching. (His attendance was required.) Sounds dire, I know. Consider the alternative.
