USA: Lewisburg Federal Prison Camp, home for criminals who commit white collar crimes

Record ID: 347752

  • Title: USA: Lewisburg Federal Prison Camp, home for criminals who commit white collar crimes
  • Date: 1st December 2002
  • Summary: (L!3)NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT - SEPTEMBER 26, 2002) (REUTERS) MV: DAVID MYERS, FORMER CONTROLLER AT WORLDCOM LEAVING COURTHOUSE IN HANDCUFFS. (L!3)NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (RECENT - OCTOBER 15, 2002) (REUTERS ) MV/TRACK: FORMER IMCLONE CHIEF EXECUTIVE SAMUEL WAKSAL AND HIS ATTORNEYS LEAVING COURTHOUSE. (L!3)LEWISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, U
  • Embargoed: 16th December 2002 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HOUSTON, TEXAS; WASHINGTON, DC; NEW YORK, NEW YORK, LEWISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, UNITED STATES, RECENT
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA1BT267H7PAQVE2W66PMWNV1WR
  • Story Text: A year after Enron's bankruptcy and the ensuing
    explosion of boardroom scandals, a new generation of well-paid
    wrongdoers is under investigation. So far, no one involved in
    the Enron scandal has been sentenced for any crime, but the
    Lewisburg Federal Prison Camp offers a view of what might
    await those who find themselves doing jail time.



    In the year since Enron's December 2 bankruptcy,
    scores of high-ranking executives in the US
    have been learning the "perp walk", the police orchestrated
    parade of an alleged criminal before the media.

    Enron's Michael Kopper pled guilty to money laundering;
    WorldCom's former controller David Myers admitted that he
    filed false papers; ImClone's Sam Waksal has pled guilty to
    insider trading, they all await sentencing and could end up in
    a place like the Lewisburg Federal Prison Camp, nestled in the
    rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania.

    Alfred Porro, a convicted white collar criminal is about
    midway through an almost a six year sentence offers this
    advice, "Get prepared not to believe all those articles you
    read about club Med. This is not a club Med -- it is not on
    the other hand what some other articles say white collar guys
    are going to do hard time. Let me tell you I'm 67 years old
    and being here isn't so hard."
    For the less than one percent of the prison population
    incarcerated for white collar crimes, the toughest part is
    separation from their families says Prison Camp Warden Dave
    Moffat. "The biggest thing is the adjustment of being away
    from their families and friends. They're incarcerated 24 hours
    a day, 7 days a week." But for those who manage to hang on to
    their money -- prison can be a place to mark time. "A guy who
    has ripped off millions of dollars isn't worried about going
    to jail. I've met them in jail. They have millions of dollars
    put aside. They are on vacation. What they are worried about
    is protecting that money that is sitting out there," Porro
    says.

    Porro has a typical rap sheet of a businessman gone bad:
    in 1999 he was convicted of 19 charges including mail fraud,
    wire fraud and embezzlement. The primary charges stemmed from
    diverting $276,000 in trust funds to help prop up failing
    businesses, co-owned with Football Hall of Famer Lawrence
    Taylor. At the time he and his wife lived in a 12 room house
    in exclusive Hazelbruck Heights, New Jersey, replete with
    tennis court and swimming pool. Porro now lives in cubicle
    number 37, which he shares with another inmate. There's a bunk
    bed, a table, a chair and a locker. The closet is a hook.

    Inmates may not wear shackles, but one step beyond a boundary
    sign means instant transfer to a higher security facility.

    Porro says he is used to it now, but that wasn't always
    the case. "The first night in prison was horrible. You wake up
    in the morning and you look at the ceiling and say 'This isn't
    true, I am going to close my eyes and go back to sleep," he
    says.

    A key lesson for those who wielded power in places like
    Wall Street, says Porro, is to put it all behind you once you
    enter the penitentiary. "You are a nobody here. You don't win
    a battle here. You don't win by being a great orator. You
    don't win by having a lot of influence. If you don't wake up
    to that or are bitter, you are going to have a bad ending."
    As for what drives people to commit white collar crimes,
    Porro said it is a subtle process. "It happens subtlety. It
    doesn't happen because somebody starts whispering in your ear,
    'This is bad do it, because you are going to benefit.' No it
    happens here, you feel uncomfortable but look at the benefits.

    Wow."
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