No sympathy for 'scam'.(RANTS AND RAVES)(Letter to the editor)

In reference to the "Lies, Fraud, and Felony" article (August), I think it would have been useful to have provided the details as to what this guy actually did. Because once your readers see the details of the crime, I don't think they are as likely to accept the inference that through job pressures and rationalization many of us could have followed the same road. Even with recent crackdowns on white-collar crime, we are still far too lenient and forgiving of this criminal behavior. These guys are common thieves. Oh wait, let me take that back, they are hardly common thieves because common thieves don't steal anywhere near as much as these guys steal, and common thieves probably end up doing more prison time and don't get book deals when they get out.

So 25 months in prison and now this guy is a nationally recognized speaker on white-collar crime and is the co-author of an upcoming book. Oh yeah, that'll teach him. I suggest that before people go out and buy this guy's book or pay him to speak at an event they look at the details of what he actually did and see if they really want to be supporting someone that participates in this type of behavior. And I think if people compare what he actually did to what he described in the Industrial Engineer article, they will see this guy is likely still running a scam, although a legal one this time.

Dave Piasecki

Kenosha, Wis.