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2. Seriousness of the Offense
The next factor relevant to evaluating Milken's petition is
the seriousness of the offense. See USAM § 1-2.112 (B). In his
petition, Milken writes that he understands that his actions
underlying the charges were wrong, and claims to accept full
responsibility. Yet he also writes that the losses resulting
from his crimes were only $318,000, and "did not involve the type
of activities that the media has been writing about, such as
insider trading, nor did they affect the underlying soundness and
integrity of the [high yield] capital markets." See Milken
Petition For Pardon After Completion Of Sentence, dated September
29, 2000 ("Milken Pet. "), Addendum at 1. To the extent Milken,
with these words, is suggesting that his crimes were not serious,
he is echoing the same arguments that Judge Wood rejected at
sentencing:
You have attempted to mitigate these crimes by claiming
they represented no more than over-zealous service to
your clients, that they involved mere technicalities
and that they did not represent the core of how you did
business. To the extent that your crimes benefitted
your clients, that is, of course, no excuse for
violating the law. In addition, there is no escaping
the fact that your crimes also benefitted you, not
necessarily by lining your pockets directly and
immediately, but by increasing your clients loyalty to
you, hence, increasing your edge over competitors and
increasing the likelihood that your clients would pay
for your service in the future.
It has also been argued that your violations were
technical ones to be distinguished from accumulating
profits through insider trading and that your conduct
is not really criminal or that it is only barely
criminal.
*
*
These arguments fail to take into
account the fact that you may have committed only
subtle crimes not because you were not disposed to any
criminal behavior but because you were willing to
commit only crimes that were unlikely to be detected.
We see often in this court individuals who would be
unwilling to rob a bank, but who readily cash social
security checks that are not theirs when checks come to
them in the mail because they are not likely to be
caught doing so. Your crimes show a pattern of
skirting the law, stepping just over to the wrong side
of the law in an apparent effort to get some of the
12
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"ocrText": "2. Seriousness of the Offense\nThe next factor relevant to evaluating Milken's petition is\nthe seriousness of the offense. See USAM § 1-2.112 (B). In his\npetition, Milken writes that he understands that his actions\nunderlying the charges were wrong, and claims to accept full\nresponsibility. Yet he also writes that the losses resulting\nfrom his crimes were only $318,000, and \"did not involve the type\nof activities that the media has been writing about, such as\ninsider trading, nor did they affect the underlying soundness and\nintegrity of the [high yield] capital markets.\" See Milken\nPetition For Pardon After Completion Of Sentence, dated September\n29, 2000 (\"Milken Pet. \"), Addendum at 1. To the extent Milken,\nwith these words, is suggesting that his crimes were not serious,\nhe is echoing the same arguments that Judge Wood rejected at\nsentencing:\nYou have attempted to mitigate these crimes by claiming\nthey represented no more than over-zealous service to\nyour clients, that they involved mere technicalities\nand that they did not represent the core of how you did\nbusiness. To the extent that your crimes benefitted\nyour clients, that is, of course, no excuse for\nviolating the law. In addition, there is no escaping\nthe fact that your crimes also benefitted you, not\nnecessarily by lining your pockets directly and\nimmediately, but by increasing your clients loyalty to\nyou, hence, increasing your edge over competitors and\nincreasing the likelihood that your clients would pay\nfor your service in the future.\nIt has also been argued that your violations were\ntechnical ones to be distinguished from accumulating\nprofits through insider trading and that your conduct\nis not really criminal or that it is only barely\ncriminal.\n*\n*\nThese arguments fail to take into\naccount the fact that you may have committed only\nsubtle crimes not because you were not disposed to any\ncriminal behavior but because you were willing to\ncommit only crimes that were unlikely to be detected.\nWe see often in this court individuals who would be\nunwilling to rob a bank, but who readily cash social\nsecurity checks that are not theirs when checks come to\nthem in the mail because they are not likely to be\ncaught doing so. Your crimes show a pattern of\nskirting the law, stepping just over to the wrong side\nof the law in an apparent effort to get some of the\n12"
}