Renzatic on 13/9/2011 at 17:07

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Dude McStealsMoneyFromMe (who's name shall not yet be named, because I still have some pending issues) pled guilty to one count felony theft by taking, and one count felony identity fraud. He has to pay restitution for, well, not all of it, but a goodly chunk, and serve 10 years probation.

The only reason he wasn't ordered to pay the entire amount was because, for some very stupid legal reason, I had to file suit in every county the checks were converted. I could only collect the identity fraud, and the three checks converted here. Oh well, gives me a perfect excuse to fire up civil Lawsuit #2, and this time I'm gonna see if I can implicate his wife for collusion, and hell, maybe even money laundering if it goes criminal again. Their little setup does fit the legal definition thereof.

The only thing that concerns me is how quick he's always been to admit guilt. There's never been any legal battles. Practically no defense from his end at all. During the original civil suit, he agreed to incredibly steep terms without batting an eye. And this time? He didn't even try to plea down his sentence. He just gets in, and tries to get out as quickly as possible. I mean who rushes through a criminal case without trying to get at least some of the penalties reduced? Instead, he signs a few papers, says he's guilty, says he wants to waive his right to appeal his decision in 30 days, and lets the cop take his hand to lead him to probation.

Damn. I'm not even an hour out of court, and I'm already starting to second guess my little victory. Maybe I should be happy with what I got. I guess it's because I still don't feel complete closure here, considering I feel it's oddly suspicious that the guy just didn't seem to mind having two felonies on his record. Or maybe it's because he only has to pay me $2000 up front, then $100 a month for the next 10 years. Or maybe it's because he's lost a huge amount of weight, and I'm not sure if it's stress related, or if he's dying of something.

The whole thing just feels hinky to me.

Sulphur on 13/9/2011 at 20:24

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It does sound hinky, but I think the key is he's paying the debt back piecemeal over a long-ass period of time. Some of these shifty bastards are like that, and heaven knows I've had to deal with the type on a regular basis here, but it's always good to be cautious even when you think you're winning. Can't afford to be blindsided just when you think it's all going fine; I'm sure your lawyer would have advised you if there's any legal loophole he can use to further bilk you out of your cash at this point.

Also, if he is losing weight, that's a bad sign. Prosperity is traditionally measured by the girth of your gut (Ganesha = large contented elephant god = god of prosperity in simple terms), and if there's anything to be depressed about when you're near middle age and still steadfastly clinging on to religious tradition, it's getting thin.

Renzatic on 14/9/2011 at 05:15

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You can't bankrupt out of a criminal charge. So that's not a problem. But even if he could, he still has two felonies on his record, and has to suffer through 10 years probation. If he even sneezes the wrong way, he goes to prison for at least 2 years. To me, it wouldn't be worth taking the hit and bankrupting later, if I'd still have all that excess legal baggage following me around.

Just about everyone I talked to who had prior experience with criminal cases expected him to try to go for a misdemeanor, and eventually plea down to at 1 felony and 5 years probation. But nope. He just strolled in there with his court appointed lawyer, and took the first thing the DA threw at him. It seemed the only thing he wanted was to avoid jail time.

To really force the point home, being on felony probation isn't an easy thing to deal with. With a misdemeanor, you have to go to your probation officer about once every 6 months, pee into a cup, and swear you're not doing anything bad. With a felony, you have to check in constantly, and are only allowed to go within a radius so far from you home. You're locked down tight. The state will always want to know exactly where you're at.

So either he's dying, has some incredibly stupid plan he believes he can get away with even considering the two felonies hanging over his head, or he just plain and simple doesn't give a damn anymore. These are the only reasons I can think of as to why he wouldn't put up more of a fight than he did.



Well, he's still fat. Just not as fat as he was. Going by the Hindu stuff, you could say he's fallen on hard times, but isn't exactly suffering much at the moment.

I don't know what the hell is going on. Maybe I'm reading too much into all of this.