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The Bigger The Theft, The Lighter The Sentence? (lazysoci.al)
submitted 6 months ago by sabreW4K3@lazysoci.al to c/leftymemes@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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[-] masquenox@lemmy.world 121 points 6 months ago

Remember - they didn't throw Martin Skhreli into rich-guy's prison because he caused thousands of people to die by raising the prices on lifesaving medicines out of reach of poor folk... no, no, no, they threw him into rich guy's prison because he embezzled some of his fellow rich parasites' money.

The way it looks is the way it is.

[-] Phegan@lemmy.world 30 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Fuck the poor, get rich

Fuck the rich, go to prison.

[-] EABOD25@lemm.ee 13 points 6 months ago

I might get in trouble for this, but if I ever see Skhreli in person, I'll do my best to make sure his nose lays flat across his cheek. He's a garbage being that's less than rats

[-] masquenox@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Make sure to use a blunt instrument - you don't want to be touching that toxic thing with your bare hands.

[-] EABOD25@lemm.ee 5 points 6 months ago

I've been told a sock full of oranges doesn't leave a bruise

[-] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

Boxing gloves protect your hands and allow you to hit harder. Doubly so if you're holding a roll of quarters in each palm

[-] alexc@lemmy.world 100 points 6 months ago

40 months is slightly less the six years in the same way my pay check is slightly less than my CEOs

[-] nickwitha_k@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 6 months ago

Yeah... Really bending the definition of "slightly" there. It would be far more accurate to day "slightly more than three years".

[-] aberrate_junior_beatnik@midwest.social 77 points 6 months ago

For the curious, this is factual, not just true. Source: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/homeless-man-vs-corporate-thief/

[-] kersplomp@programming.dev 69 points 6 months ago

Snopes: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/homeless-man-vs-corporate-thief/

It's true, but note that Allan received a reduced sentence for testifying against the actual mastermind of the fraud, who got 30 years.

[-] Dasus@lemmy.world 31 points 6 months ago

So him defrauding millions of times more than what that 15-year sentence guy stole is less bad because the fraudster also snitched on an even bigger fraudster?

I think that isn't an issue. The issue is the clearly disproportionate punishment of 15 years for 100 dollars.

A few years for fraud especially you helped the catch more fraudsters is fine.

15 years for something that won't cover a night out is fucking wrong.

[-] kersplomp@programming.dev 11 points 6 months ago

Absolutely agree, you're preaching to the choir

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[-] curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 27 points 6 months ago

Twice as long as the homeless man, yes.

The difference in dollars and impact though, and considering who turned themselves in... It's still an egregious sentence for $100.

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[-] Rhaedas@fedia.io 59 points 6 months ago

"It's a big club, and you ain’t in it." - George Carlin

[-] kibiz0r@midwest.social 33 points 6 months ago

“Let’s see Paul Allen’s sentence.”

[-] jayk@lemmy.ca 16 points 6 months ago

his subtle off-white colouring got him a lighter sentence

[-] Mercury@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

Off-white collar crime.

[-] QuantumSparkles@sh.itjust.works 16 points 6 months ago

I love that fraudster’s name is actually Paul Allen

[-] ansiz@lemmy.world 31 points 6 months ago

It costs what $30k a year to keep someone in prison? Great use to taxpayer money for that $100 theft.

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 18 points 6 months ago

It unironically is a great use of money, if it wasn't they wouldn't do it. Prison Labor is basically slavery, and just as absurdly profitable, plus private prisons make more money with more inmates and can lobby as such.

[-] Aoife 13 points 6 months ago

Well, mainly it's about funnelling taxpayer money into the hands of the prison industrial complex cause most states don't go quite so hard on the prison labor

[-] Cowbee@lemmy.ml 5 points 6 months ago

It's a positive feedback loop built off of human suffering. Private Prisons lobby for more slave labor, making the Capitalist State more money, while the Prison Industrial Complex gets more money for imprisoning more people, and more slave labor to sell cheap commodities.

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[-] LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world 26 points 6 months ago

The homeless man understands the actual value of money which is why he felt remorse.

[-] pyre@lemmy.world 19 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

i once heard someone say "prison is for people who steal hundreds, not millions". this is an exception that there's even any sentence for the top one.

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 18 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Homeless guy shoulda stolen $3b instead of just $100 🤷🏻‍♂️

[-] kindenough@kbin.earth 16 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It is whom your stealing from. Madoff for instance robbed the wrong people, should've robbed proletarians.

[-] LordPassionFruit@lemm.ee 12 points 6 months ago

The first time I saw this picture, I was in middle school. It may well have been my first introduction to politics and started me down the path of leftism in general. Over a decade later and nothing's changed.

[-] twinnie@feddit.uk 11 points 6 months ago

Tbf, sounds kinda like the homeless man wanted to get caught, maybe for the free rent.

[-] jerkface@lemmy.ca 20 points 6 months ago

You are showing your innocence.

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 15 points 6 months ago

Yeah, that wasn't remorse. That was not wanting to live on the streets and being desperate to have a consistent amount of food.

[-] dactylotheca@suppo.fi 27 points 6 months ago

Yeah. No wonder they threw the book at him.

I mean come on, who is really the one more deserving of punishment here: the fine upstanding job creator who had a small and momentary lapse of judgement, or the clearly bootstrap-deficient monster who – after choosing to be poor – doesn't have the moral fortitude to live on the streets like he should?

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

I think the right answer here would be to sell the guy to the upstanding job creator. The creator gets to prove how upstanding he is. The feckless man with no bootstraps gets a place to stay. Everybody wins! How lovely and compassionate that world would be.

[-] dactylotheca@suppo.fi 8 points 6 months ago

But surely you can't be suggesting that the homeless man should be housed for free, so that someone who has contributed so much to society has to bear the costs?

Maybe we should let the free markets decide: first, the criminal should sign a completely voluntary contract which specifies that his new owner is entitled to assign to him any work they deem a suitable compensation for his upkeep during his sentence (not signing the contract or shirking work duties leads to a doubling of the sentence and immediate transfer to an isolation cell for the remainder of his sentence), then put him up for auction and sell him to the highest bidder

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Well that's it. We've solved homelessness once and for all.

[-] bolexforsoup 7 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Y’all are making a lot of assumptions none of which involved asking if this man was wrongfully imprisoned.

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

The homeless guy? He was definitely wrongfully imprisoned. There are plenty of homeless people in locations with poor social safety nets who commit petty crimes to get a roof to sleep under for a while. But the prosecutors and cops get to inflate their numbers so they're more than happy to throw the book at someone who can't defend themselves.

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[-] bouh@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

Imagine living in a country where you need to steel a bank in order to get the chance for shelter and food, albeit with no freedom anymore.

[-] TexasDrunk@lemmy.world 5 points 6 months ago

The way we treat our vulnerable is sick.

[-] GoodEye8@lemm.ee 5 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Right. Even if we assume that's the case it only explains one guy getting a harsh sentence. It doesn't explain the guy with a way harsher crime not getting a harsh sentence.

Think of it this way. If the other guy had robbed the bank empty, just for the sake of the argument he stole 3 billion, and he didn't turn himself out do you think he should've gotten 40 months?

[-] MeDuViNoX@sh.itjust.works 9 points 6 months ago

Should have used that 100$ to invest in a better lawyer. /s

[-] Mercury@lemmy.world 7 points 6 months ago

Impressive. Very nice. Let's see Paul Allen's sentence.

[-] kn0wmad1c@programming.dev 7 points 6 months ago

End Stage Capitalism: "Laws for thee (the poor), not for me (the wealthy)."

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[-] beebarfbadger@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

We finally found evidence of something trickling downwards. Or pouring down, rather.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 5 points 6 months ago

Let's see him get a reservation at the Dorsia now, the stupid fucking bastard.

[-] 737 5 points 6 months ago

While a 15 year sentence is definitely too high, it's important to acknowledge that there is a difference between a bank robbery and fraud.

[-] MindTraveller@lemmy.ca 10 points 6 months ago

Yeah, the difference is one's an honest, victimless crime.

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this post was submitted on 21 Jul 2024
1040 points (100.0% liked)

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