Blagojevich Gets 14 Years, Raj Rajatnaram only 11, Who is Really Worse in the Eyes of the Law?

So the gavel of justice came banging down hard on the former Governor yesterday . Despite open remorse and acceptance of full responsibility by "Blags", the Presiding Federal Court Judge handed down a stern sentence of 14 years. As reported, he will have to do probably close to 12 years. Not going to be easy for a 55 year old former politician.
So reading about his sentence in the Times this morning got me thinking . Raj R , the former hedge fund manager a short while back received a sentence of 11 years . Raj allegedly earned $60 million in illegal profits arising from the illegal inside information he received and traded on .
So after looking at the totality of circumstances , which convicted individual warranted a stiffer sentence? Both were crimes of greed, ego and power. Both involved powerful, influential men . You could argue both were victimless crimes. Although Blags' crime involved the breach of public trust of a high ranking elected official and Raj's crime involved his utilizing illegal information which compromised the very fabric of the financial markets .
At the end of the day, in my opinion, Raj's crime was pure greed . But Blags' was more than that. If all evidence was to be believed he actually was trying to auction a United States Senate seat. Doesn't happen very often , and a message was sent out during sentencing that it should never ,ever happen again ! Sentence actually could have been worse.
After closely following these two cases, I have to continue to ask myself , what were you two guys thinking ? Hey, maybe they'll wind up as roommates.
This has been political analyst Steve Goldman reporting.

Raj R Sentenced to Eleven Years.

Raj Rajatnaram was sentenced to 11 years today. Will probably have to serve 7 and change. Prosecutors actually sought a sentence of 20 years...So it could have been worse. Do you think the prosecution was actually unhappy with the sentence?
So now the appeal process takes over, Raj tries to stay out of prision pending appeal and eventually the Second Circuit Court of Appeals will rule.
Remember, it aint over till the fat lady sings!

Raj Rajaratnam Trial; Jury Going into Day 4 of Deliberations....What do you make of it?

So as the jury goes into day 4 of deliberations, much is being made on their focus on the " replays of the wire tap recordings" of phone conversations between Mr. R and the "alleged insiders".
Here's my spin on that. Let's assume the defendant collected legitimate info on a merger and also collected "tainted insider info " on the same merger , and then trades and makes a healthy profit . What proof if any does The Prosecution have that defendant traded on "the illegal vs. legal information". And I'm not splitting hairs.. I see it as an acquittable issue. Real question is whether defense counsel pressed this point and whether jury is intelligent enough to understand it
My personal opinion is that jury will not buy it and will convict on most major counts. Your thoughts?

Galleon Insider Trading Case; The Prosecution has Rested.

The Prosecution has rested in "The Galleon Insider Trading Case ". Plenty of witnesses, plenty of wiretaps and lots of strong evidence. Defense is only expected to call 5 or 6 witnesses; Is less better? Only time will tell. The defense theme will be that Galleon managed over $7 billion and prided itself on unmatched market research and keeping "their collective noses to the grindstone" at all times . At the end of the day it will be an interesting issue for the jury to determine whether in fact defendant acted on (and profited from) "alleged illegal insider information"......Or whether he acted on market research and information that was legitimately gathered. Going to take an excellent defense summation to explain this to the jury and to plant a viable seed for aquittal. Tough one for the defense, especially in light of the vast resources the Government has pumped into this prosecution. Stay tuned!

Raj Rajaratnam; Anil Kumar's testimony(if believed) is devastating stuff!

So this week Anil Kumar testified in the "Galleon Insider Trading Case". Kumar, a former financial consultant has already plead guilty to securities charges and is cooperating with the Prosecution.

In his testimony Kumar stated that he provided "hot " insider info to Rajaratnam on the ATI Technologies Inc merger, and that Raj paid him a million. Probably cash. If proved , that testimony alone will be sufficent to convict the former hedge fund magnate. We shall see how Kumar survives cross-examination!



Stay tuned!

Opening Statements in Galleon Hedge Fund Case; Going to be interesting to see what wiretaps say?

Well opening statements were finally made yesterday in the "Galleon Hedge Fund " criminal trial. The prosecution promised 2400 taped phone conversations, the defense promised that the evidence would show that "Raj R" was a meticulous researcher. We will see!
Usually in cases involving extensive wiretapping, the quality and clarity of the tapes is the first and foremost prosecution concern.
Then it will hinge on whether the conversations were unrestricted or whether the defendant and his accomplice(s) spoke in code, etc. We don't know that yet...
Stay tuned, afterall it's a 10 week trial.