Sir Allen Stanford: Prison Beating and Drug Treatment

Allen Stanford--Accused of $7 billion Ponzi Scheme

Although it's been some time since I've posted anything on Sir Allen Stanford and his $7 billion Ponzi scheme investigation (see this link for prior posts mentioning Stanford), I've been following his case and thought I'd share the latest news on the Knight from Antiqua or the Scammer from Texas, depending on who you talk to.

Stanford was supposed to go to trial last month. However, it appears now that his trial will be postponed for several months. The reason is because he's recovering from his cushy life in prison (not). Just yesterday, in my fraud class, I talked about the myth that white collar criminals have a cushy life in prison. I showed my class what Mark Morze, the former ZZZZ Best fraudster, said about white-collar-prison life.

In an interview several years ago, Morze explained his five years in prison in Lompoc, California. Here are some quotes from an article describing Morze's experience:

With a five-year sentence to serve, Morze expected an early parole from a plush, white-collar prison/resort complete with golf course and tennis courts, a la Erlichman and Haldemann of the Watergate scandal. But reality didn't jibe with expectation. He got five long years of sleepless nights, living in fear of routine prison stabbings, rapes, and assaults at Lompoc prison, Lompoc, Calif.

"Gangs control everything," Morze said. "Guards don't run prisons, the inmates run them. The guards just keep you from escaping."

...Despite being a model prisoner who set a Lompoc prison record for no incident reports, there was no early parole. When Lompoc was convened from a camp-style prison to a full Federal Correctional Institute, Morze found himself working and living with convicted murderers and rapists. He was later transferred to a facility in the California desert, where inmates worked outdoors in temperatures up to 112 degrees.

"I did five years for a non-violent crime. The average murderer does three. I had to sleep with one eye open for five years, making sure no one lit my bed on fire.

Sir Allen Stanford after his prison beating in 2009

Well, it looks like Sir Allen's experience suggests that Morze is not alone in his prison experience. Stanford's trial has been postponed because Stanford is addicted to anti-depressants that he got after he was severely beaten in prison. He is also said to be suffering a brain injury from the prison brawl. The photo above says it all.

Ironically, news reports are saying that Stanford is now being transferred to the same prison that Bernie Madoff is housed in. While we don't have any photos that I'm aware of, several news reports said that Madoff was also in a fight since he went to prison.

When Stanford was first arrested, the feeling was the the SEC moved quickly on his case because they botched Madoff's case and they needed to make sure they didn't botch this one.

Maybe Sir Allen can pass his regards on to Bernie for helping him enjoy the cushy prison life of a white-collar criminal...