PT'BLISHED WEEKLY VOLT'ME 19 I{UMBER 3() MONDAY JI'LY 25, 2OO5 CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER

EXPERT NAMES TOP FIVE PRISONS Sheridan,Oregon. A federalprison camp FOR WHITE-COLLAR CRIMINALS outsideof a medium level securityfacility about60 miles from Portland. "You Handcaught in the corporatecookie jar? PensacolaNaval Base. get out during the Guilty on all counts? day,you work on the Naval base,you intermingle "The Judgesentences you to the slammer? with Navy personnel,"Ellis says. food is Fearnot, dearcorporate CEO. better.You areoutside. I've had peoplewho were Thereis a guide for your post-convictionlife. takingcare of the groundsat the admiral's house. It's called theFederal Prison Handbook2005. The admiral'swife would bring out lemonade, And it's author- Alan Ellis - wantsyou know invite the inmatein for lunch. Things of that sort." "If - thereis prison,and there is prison. you are Jewish,I would saythe federal While the guidebookprofiles eachof the prison campat Otisville, New York, about70 miles "It nation's 178federal prisons, only abouta third of from New York City," Ellis adds. hasprograms them areminimum securityprisons - or federal for orthodoxand religiousJews. It hasreligious prison camps- suitablefor your averageCEO. furloughswhere people leave the prison for And Ellis says- this is what you want - a religiousholidays." federalprison camp. Ellis saysthat while most white-collar convicts While the fabledClub Fed is a thing of the past areassigred to federalprison camps,getting into a - you know, get up the in morning,play golf, steak federalprison camp is not slam dunk automatic. and lobsterfor dinner- federalprison campsare a (SeeIntemiew with Alan Ellis, page10.) cut aboveyour othercurrently available alternatives. Ellis is a lawyer who specializesin federal SIMI VALLEY HOSPITAL PAYS sentencingand post-conviction remedies. $3.6MILLION TO RESOLVE The federalsystem houses 180,000 prisoners. FALSE CLAIMS CASE Ellis estimatesthat about ten percent, or 18,000, arewhite-collar criminals. Simi Valley Hospitaland Health Care Services In an interviewwith CorporateCrime Reporter, haspaid the government$3,645,872 to resolve we askedEllis to namehis top five prisonsfor allegationsthat it submittedfalse claimsto white-collarcriminals. Medicare. Here'shis list: Without admittingwrongdoing, the hospital "A Yankton,South Dakota. standalone federal agreedto pay the settlementto resolvea federal "A prisoncamp," Ellis says. vanishingbreed. These fraud investigationinto the hospital'sbilling arecamps that arenot satellitesto largermore practices. secureinstitutions. It happensto be a converted Under the Medicareprogram, hospitals are collegethat went defunct.It's in the middle of the reimbursedthrough the DiagnosticRelated town, not on the outskirts.There is a lot of Groups- or DRG - classificationsystem. communityprogramming. People leave during the When a patient is discharged,a hospitalassigns day andcome back at night." a diagnosiscode that determinesthe DRG, andthat "That's Englewood,Colorado. outsideof in turn determinesthe paymentthe hospitalwill "It's Denver,"Ellis says. a satellitecamp to the receivefor the treatrnentrendered to the patient. federalcorrectional institution there.I'm told by my Simi Valley Hospital and Health CareServices "upcoding" clientsthat it is a prettylaid backplace." was accusedof routinely - it submitted "The Texarkana,Texas. federalprison camp claimsfor more intensiveor sophisticatedlevels of therehas an drug and alcohol treatrnentprogram," servicethan what had beenactually documentedbv he says."It hasa pond stockedwith fish. And one of my clientssaid he liked to spendhis day fishing." (SeeSIMI VALLEY,page three) Men arenot angels,even when they speakfor ELLIS: At this point, eightypercent are the worker.Add into the mix a coddled,politically white-collar.It didn't usedto be thatway. Now it is. cormectedcompany that is insulatedfrom a variety CCR: Five yearsago, what was it? ofoutside pressuresby public-sectorcontrol, and ELLIS: Forty percentdrug, fifty percent that sortof hothouseis bound to grow somebad white-collar,and l0 percentfederal child seeds.For theworkers'sakes, we hopethe scandalis pornography. dealtwith forcefully. But a real fix would involve CCR: Do you haveany corporateclients? addressingVW's corporategovernance and ELLIS: No. I only representclients who havea ownershipstructure. liberty interestat stake. - The VWScandal, Editorial, Wall Street CCR: Your practiceis one hundredpercent Journal,July12,2005 post-conviction? ELLIS: One hundredpercent federal sentencing INTERVIEW WITH ALAJ\ ELLIS, andpost-conviction remedies. SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA CCR: Are you one hundredpercent in the federal system? Here'sthe thing aboutthe federalsystem: ELLIS: Yes. Ifyou areindicted, there is a 19out of20 CCR: Why is that? chancethat you will be convicted- for you math ELLIS: Severalreasons. Number one is - I don't majors- that's 95 percent. know what I'm doing in the statesystem. Alan Ellis is a practicingattorney in SanRafael, Betterto refusea caseand be thoughtigrrorant California. thanaccept it and removeall doubt.There isn't a Ellis lookedat thesenumbers and saidto heckof a lot of white-collarwork in the state himself- the hell with trial, I'm going straightto systems.One would haveto familiarizeoneself with sentencing. all of thesedifferent jurisdictions around the And he did. country. Ellis' exclusivepractice is federalsentencing CCR: How many competitorsdo you have? andpost-conviction remedies. ELLIS: Technically,none. He is the authorof theFederal Prison Thereare lawyers who handlefederal Handbook(2005),which profiles all of the nation's sentencing,lawyers who handlefederal prison 178prisons and advises attorneys on how to secure matters,and lawyerswho handledirect appealsand a favorableprison for their clients. habeascorpus petitions. We interviewedEllis on July 18,2005. But thereare no full-servicefederal sentencing andpost conviction law firms like ourswho do all CCR: What is your currentPractice? three. ELLIS: Our practiceis exclusivelyfederal I'm 6l yearsold. I've beendoing this for 35 sentencingand post-conviction remedies. years. Our goal is to obtain for our clientsthe lowest Thereare younger newer lawyers who are possiblesentence - andifit is oneofincarceration, comingalong doing this, recogrrizingthat to be servedin the bestplace possible, under terms it's a nichepractice that canbe very rewarding- and conditionsthat will enablethe client to get intellectuallyas well as financially. homeas quickly as possible. My greatestfear hasalways been that someone We havea nationalpractice with regional would comealong, younger, hipper, and better officesin the SanFrancisco and Philadelphiaareas' looking than me. OurSan Francisco office is locatedin the CCR: Who arethose people? suburbof SanRafael, California, and our ELLIS: Thereis a young lawyer who usedto be Philadelphiaoffice is locatedin the suburbof counselfor FamiliesAgainst MandatoryMinimums. Ardmore,Pennsylvania. His nameis Todd Bussert.He's in Connecticut. CCR: How many caseson your docketat any one Thereis a former associateof mine - Alan time? Chaset- he's in Alexandria,Virginia. ELLIS: At any onetime, therecould be asmany as And there'sanother good lawyerin Nashville, fiftv. Tennessee- RichardCrane. CCR: What percentageare white collar cases? CCR: What aboutHerb Hoelter?

10 CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER MONDAY JULY 2S,2OO5 ELLIS: Herbis a sentencingspecialist, but he's not And I did not like Pennsylvaniawinters. an attorney. So.I did thatuntil 1980. CCR: You get a lot of referralsfrom the big white I then openedan office in Philadelphia,where I collar firms? wasborn and raised. ELLIS: Yes. I starteddoing federalwork. I was doing CCR: Do someof the big white-collar firms just appeals,pre-trial motions and the like. wing it on their own on the sentencingaspects of Then the BurgerCourt cameto be. I sawthe white-collarcases? handwritingon the wall. Thingswere not goodfor ELLIS: Unfortunately,yes. the FourthAmendment and illegal searchesand CCR: Let's look at the Bemard Ebberssentencing. seizures- which wasthe key issuein drug cases. He wassentenced to 25 years.Did Ebbers' lawyers For mostpeople, how much time they were do the sentencingaspect on their own? going to do andwhere they were going to do it were ELLIS: Either that, or they hired somebodylike probablythe two most importantconsiderations in Herb Hoelterto assistthem. their cases- much more so in the federalsystem, CCR: Do we know whetherthey did or didn't? with the higherrate of conviction. - ELLIS: I don't know. Their namesnever appearin In statecourt, there is a defense you got the the recordof the case.When peoplehire me, one of wrong guy, someother guy did it, sheconsented. threethings can happen. You don't havethat in federalcourt. One is I entermy own appearancealong with CCR: What don't you havein federalcourt? localcounsel. ELLIS: You havefewer trial defenses.For the most Two, I appearof counselwith the firm that has part, all you haveis reasonabledoubt. The feds associatedme. don't indict unlessthey feel confidentthey can Or three,I consult,ghost-write, and my name convict. doesn'tappear anywhere in the paperwork. CCR: What percentof federalcases end up with a CCR: When and wheredid you attendlaw school? conviction? ELLIS: I graduatedfrom Villanova Law Schoolin ELLIS: Ninety-fourpercent result in pleas.Of the 1967. six percentthat go to trial, the governmentprevails CCR: Haveyou beendoing this work all of your inT4percentofthe cases.So, l9 out of20 federal professionallife? defendantsare going to wind up in front of a ELLIS: No. I spentmy first two yearsas a federal sentencingjudge. law clerk in Philadelphia.I then spentone year CCR: Eversince the 1980s,you havebeen doing teachingbusiness law at the Wharton Schoolof sentencinglaw. When did you startpublishing the Businessand Finance at the University of FederalPrison Guidebook? Pennsylvania. ELLIS: The first onewas in 1998.The Bureauof I wasthen hired to be a law professorat Golden Prisonspublished something called Facilities 1989. GateUniversity School of Law in SanFrancisco at And they usedto updateit everyyear. the ripeold ageof 26. The lastone was in 1992.Itwas a realslimmed I taughtthere for a yearfrom l97Oto 1971. down versionof what we do. They would tell you I thenstarted my practice. somethingabout the facilities. CCR: Haveyou beendoing this kind of practice CCR: Doesn't the Bureauof Prisonsweb site do the from the beginning? samethingnow? ELLIS: No. I startedpracticing in StateCollege, ELLIS: No. The only thing you can get from the Pennsylvaniawhere I went to undergraduateschool web site is wherethe prison is, how to get there, at PennState. I had a storefrontoffice. what their visiting regulationsare. I wasthe students'lawyer. I was the president CCR: It hasan inmatelocator? of the ACLU. I was the only liberal lawyer in town. ELLIS: It hasthat, but it doesn'thave anything I wasdoing a lot of drug casesback then.I aboutthe prison as far as what vocationalprograms developeda statewidepractice in Pennsylvania.I areavailable, what educationalprograms are was trying cases. available? I tried threecases - lost my first two, won the CCR: Why did the Bureauof Prisonsstop third andI quit on top. publishingits annualguide to prisons? It got really old. I didn't like trial work. ELLIS: I haveno idea.

MONDAY JULY 25.2005 CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER II CCR: Whenthe Bureaustopped doing it, you said- In fact, Bureauof Prisonstatistics indicate that hey, we cando this? it's 54 percent- followedby weapons,explosives, ELLIS: Yes.We said- we can fill the void. and arsonoffenses which accountfor l3 percentof CCR: How manyprisons are there in the federal inmates,immigration offenses which makeup I I prison system? percent,robbery 6 percent,burglary, larceny and ELLIS: At least178. propertyoffenses 4 percent,homicide, aggravated CCR: What kind of prisonsare there? assault,kidnaping make up 3 percent,sex offenses I ELLIS: Thereare six typesof federalprisons percent,and national security less than 0.1 percent including federaldetention centers where pre-trial, andprobably growing. pre-sentenceddefendants are held. White-collaroffenders - if you include Oncepeople are sentenced, they are designated extortion,fraud, bribery, bankingand insurance to a federalfacility, to one offive typesoffederal crimes,counterfeitin g, embezzlement,antitrust facilities. violations,election law offenses,and environmental The leastsecure form is called a minimum andregulatory offenses - probablyaccount for securityfacility. Theseare the so-calledfederal aboutten percent. prisoncamps. Of coursewith over 180,000federal inmates, Then you havelow, medium,high and federal 18,000white-collar offenders is nothingto sneeze medicalcenters. about. CCR: Which onesare the Club Feds? CCR: What's the breakdown- white-collarcriminal ELLIS: None. versusstreet criminal? CCR: Did Club Fed ever exist? ELLIS: Ten percentwhite-collar, the restothers. ELLIS: Yes.Probably back in the 1960s.A movie CCR: For the most part, do the white-collar wasmade of mob peoplewho were devouring criminalsend up in the minimum securityprisons? lobsterand steak behind bars. But that doesn'texist ELLIS: For the most part, yes.But, manypeople anymore. think that they are automaticallygoing to get into a Thereare federal prison campsthat do not have minimum facility becausethey area white-collar fencesaround them. offender,because they haveno prior record. You canwalk awayif you'd like. Very few But that is not alwaysthe case. peopledo. If you walk away and you are caught, For example,if the Bureauof Prisonsbelieves you arecharged with escapeand you arenever that you area securityrisk or a management goingback to a federalprison camp again. concern,you arenot going to get into a federal CCR: When you say federalprison camp,you mean prisoncamp. minimum security? They definea managementconcern as ELLIS: Yes. somebodywho is a violent offender,a predatory CCR: How many of the 178plus federalprisons are type inmate. minimum security? Very few white-collar offendersfit that mold, ELLIS: About a third - but they accountfor l9o/oof so that is generallynot a problem. all inmates. Securityrisk is anothermatter. CCR: What percentageof the federalprison The Bureauof Prisonsrelies almostexclusively populationis white collar criminal? on the pre-sentencereport to makesits placement ELLIS: A very small percentage- lessthan l0 decisions. percent. I havehad white-collar clientswhose Peoplehave this misimpressionthat the federal pre-sentenceinvestigation report finds themto have prison systemis chuck full of white-collar substantialassets abroad. criminals.Not true. The Bureauconcludes from this that you might Most of my clientswho arewhite-collar walk away,jump on a plane,fly to a countrythat inmatesare shocked when they arrive to find that doesn'thave an extraditiontreaty with the United the vastmajority of peoplethere are minority drug Statesand stay there. dealers. I havehad clientslike that get designatedto Talk aboutculture shock. low-level facilities that havebarbed wire fences My senseis that more thanhalf of the inmates aroundthem for that reasonalone. are drug convicts. CCR: A white-collardefendant is convicted.

12 CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER MONDAY JULY 25.2005 Automatically, the judge orders a pre-sentence friends, co-workers and tell the story about who this report? guy is, why he did what he did, why he's worthy of ELLIS: Yes. a break, why he's unlikely to do it again. CCR: Who does the pre-sentence report? CCR: They did all of that for Ebbers, and he still ELLIS: The U.S. Probation Office, which is part of got 25 years, which is the equivalent of a life the federal courts. sentence. Each district has its own probation office. Each ELLIS: It works for me. office has two components. CCR: How do you know that it works? One writes pre-sentence reports. That's all they ELLIS: I believe in my heart of hearts that I can do. obtain for a client a lower sentence than he would The other supervisespeople released from have obtained had I not been in the case. custody or are on probation. In my most recent sentence, the govemment CCR: Why are pre-sentence reports done? recommended 63 months for a tax evader. ELLIS: To allow the judge to impose an We got him 41 months. appropriate sentence. That's the kind of difference we are making. Even though the sentencing guidelines now are CCR: When you see a white-collar case,what are merely advisory, the probation officer needs to the most fertile areasyou are going to explore? calculate the guideline score. ELLIS: In every case, you have to answer the why The report looks at the circumstances question - why did this guy do what he did? surrounding the offense, who the victims are, any I used to say it was a two-part question, with restitution that may be owing, to whom, how much, the second question being - why won't he do it offender characteristics like family background, again? employment history, physical health, mental health, But most white-collar offenders are not going to substanceabuse, prior record. do it again. CCR: How can a sentencing lawyer like yourself The question is - why did they do what they affect sentencing? did? ELLIS: ln my opinion, big-time, especially in the One category of defendant is the terminally wake of the Supreme Court decisionin Booker, stupid. which said that the guidelines are advisory. The second category is the follies of youth. CCR: Some who have analyzed the sentencessince The third category is perhaps the largest - a have said that Bookerhasn't changed sentencing, nice guy who made a bad mistake in judgment. that judges are still adhering to the guidelines. The foudh client is the greedy, avaricious son ELLIS: That data seems to indicate that. of a bitch. Judgesare still unfamiliar as to how far they The fifth one is the mentally ill. And I don't can go wder Booker. mean the 95 IQ guy drooling from the mouth, Some judges have never sentenced under a walking on all fours. I'm talking about people who pre-guidelines system, which didn't kick in until have had significant mental health disorders which 1987. contributed to the commission of their offense. And they feel very comfortable with the CCR: Your question is - is the client crazy? guidelines and not having to make individual ELLIS: Right. That's what I mention in my most sentencing determinations. recent article - Representing the lllhite Collar Also, I don't think many lawyers have taken Client in a Post-Booker l{orld. advantageof Booker as well as they could have and If you think your client is crary, guesswhat? representedtheir white-collar clients the way they He may be crazy. could have to get a below the guidelines sentence. CCR: Let's say you answer number four - the CCR: What is a mitigation specialist? client is a greedy, avaricious son of a bitch. ELLIS: A mitigation specialist is a non-lawyer Do you go to the judge and tell the truth - the criminal justice professional. client is a greedy, avaricious son of a bitch? We have two in our firm - both of whom are ELLIS: No, unless I saw a real good strategic forensic licensed clinical social workers. reason for doing that - and I can't think of any right They evaluate the client, talk to doctors, family, now.

MONDAY JULY 25, 2OO5CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER 13 CCR: So,what do you say to the judge in that case? havetwo kids and two cars- or more. ELLIS: It's a take on the old legal adage- if the The neighborsthink the guy is the bestthing law is againstyou, arguethe facts. sincesliced bread. They don't know what the guy is If the factsare against you, arguethe law. doing at work. Aberrantbehavior can be arguedfor And if both the law and the facts are against everywhite-collar criminal. you, takethe probationofficer out for lunch. ELLIS: No, becausesome of thesepeople have CCR: So,back to the original question- what are beendoing what they havebeen doing a long time, the areasthat work in gettinga lessersentence for a particularlythe peoplein the boiler rooms. white-collarcriminal? CCR: Forgetthe boiler rooms.I'm talking aboutthe ELLIS: The guidelineslook at somethingcalled CEOsand CFOsfrom mainstreamcompanies. aberrantbehavior. ELLIS: Thesepeople aren't virgins. Many have Underthe guidelines,you can get a reduced beendoing what they havebeen doing for a while. sentencefor aberrantbehavior. CCR: So, aberrantbehavior exists among white- CCR: Isn't most white-collarcrime aberrant collar criminals. behavior? ELLIS: Well, againI don't call it abenantbehavior. ELLIS: That dependson how you define aberrant I call it out ofcharacterbehavior. behavior. And I'm not talking about somebodywho has Thereused to be two schoolsof thoughton this. beenripping off investorsfor a long period of time. One schoolof thoughtwas that it had to be a I'm talking aboutsomebody who hascome to spontaneousimpulsive act. this very recentlybecause of financial setbacks, You aredriving down the street,and the back mentalhealth problems, other emotionalfactors. door of a Brinks armoredtruck flies open and out CCR: What comesafter aberrantbehavior? dropsa sackof money. ELLIS: Mental healthdisorders. You immediatelybrake your car, pick up the Do peoplewith mental healthdisorders get to money,and take off in the oppositedirection. be CEOs? You havenever done anything like this in your Yes. They get to be politicians,judges and life. lawyers. Somecouds say - that is aberrantbehavior and Is it paranoidschizophrenia? I don't think so. only that is aberrantbehavior. Peoplethat aredelusional, psychotic? Otherssaid - no, a markeddeparture from an I don't think so. otherwiselaw-abiding life, if not doneover a very But bipolar disorders,people that aremanic? long periodof time, could constituteaberrant Yes,big time. behavior. Bipolar disorder,manic depression,where The guidelinestook a middle ground. peoplehave incredible highs and lows. They said- this can't take a long period of I had a client who I was very successfulwith time. bipolar disorderwith psychotic features. If thishas been going on for a while, it isn't In his case,he rippedoff Medicaid. aberrantbehavior. He wasripping off Medicaid in New York Post-Booker,I can go in and arguethat the State. behaviorwas out of character. He agreedto pay restitutionin the amountof I don't call it aberrantbehavior - I call it out of $800,000. character. And unlesshe paid it right away,he wasgoing A markeddeviation from an otherwise to jail. law-abidinglife. New York Stateprisons are not Club Feds. CCR: What's an exampleof a casewhere it has So what did he do? He defraudedMedicare. worked? He sufferedfrom a delusionthat federalmedicare ELLIS: I get lettersfrom friends and business was a gift from God to allow him to pay backNew associatessaying - cannotbelieve that this person York Medicaid. did what he did. He's a pillar of the community. We got him probation. CCR: That's almostevery white-collar criminal. CCR: What happenedto the Club Feds? They go to church,they live in the suburbs,they ELLIS: They were few and far between.They did

14 CORPORATE CRIME REPORTER MONDAY JULY 25, 2OO5 exist. The only way to get that kind of a convict into a CCR: But why did the system get rid of the golf minimum security prison is to use a polygraph. courses? And I test them on the question - do you have ELLIS: Bad publicity. assetsabroad? CCR: Martha Stewart went to a minimum security If he passesit, I go running to the probation prison in West Virginia. officer and the judge with a copy of the results. ELLIS: The women there call it Camp Cupcake. If he doesn't, it goes into the shredder. She could have walked off into the wilds of West CCR: Do you look at the big named cases,and their Virginia. sentencesand say to yourself - the defense lawyers CCR: Do you have senseas to how many federal in those casesmessed up? inmates skip out when they are sentenced? ELLIS: Yes. ELLIS: Very few. They are generally out on bail CCR: What are the mistakes that you see defense pending sentencing. They virtually all show up to attorneys making? sentencing. Then they are virhrally all allowed to ELLIS: Not answering the why question, and self-surrender. They virtually all show up. therefore not humanizing the guy enough. They could walk away from the camp, but very Not proposing an alternative. few do that. Not having their client evaluated by a mental CCR: You sometimes argue something called health professional. post-offense rehab. That one is hard to believe. CCR: Maybe these high-profile defendants don't ELLIS: Well, I demonstrate it. I develop a want to admit that they are mentally ill. community service option and have the client start ELLIS: Are you kidding? I never had a problem. right away. Scratch that. I have one client currently pending And I'm not talking about writing checks or sentencing who I've had to drag kicking and sponsoring the a golf classic. screaming to a forensic psychiatrist. I'm talking about ladling soup in the soup Finally, I just got the report back today and it is kitchens. going to help me big time. Mental health heatment is also helpful. It is a battered woman with a dependent CCR: You believe that there are always good personality disorder who was convicted along with altematives to prison. her father. ELLIS: Yes, for non-violent criminals. She always did whatever daddy told her to do. The violent people I want as far away from me And that's going to be my argument at as I can get them. sentencing - daddy told me to do it. CCR: Prisons should be reserved for violent Daddy said - do this. And she did it. criminals only? Another way that lawyers mess up in this area is ELLIS: Probation and fines for white-collar that they don't prep the client prior to the offendersisn't enough. pre-sentenceinterview- You have to make a principled argument to a The client goes in drinking like a fish, or sentencingjudge. abusing pharmaceutical drugs' You can't just pull a figure out of the air. And they are unaware that the Bureau of Mid-range sentencing alternative options such Prisons has this comprehensive drug and alcohol as halfivay houses and home confinement also are treatment program, which if successfully completed appropriate. can result in up to one year taken offofyour CCR: If a high profile white-collar criminal is sentenceby the Bureau of Prisons. That's sentencedto anything other than a minimum significant. security prison, has the defense attorney failed? I have lawyers telling their clients - when they ELLIS: No. In some cases- for example, my guy ask you about your drug and alcohol problem, just - with a 4l-month sentence,the tax evader - this say you have an occasional glass of wine with judge believes that he has assetshidden abroad and dinner' that he is an escaperisk. CCR: The day after Ebbers was sentenced,the New The judge took the unusual step of revoking his York Daily Nevls ran a photo of Ebbers crying bail when the verdict came in. leaving the courthouse. "Million And that was becauseof the assetsabroad. They called him Dollar Baby."

MONDAY JULY 25,2OO5CORPORATE CRJME REPORTER 15 Do white-collar criminals break down and cry boredom. often? Sheridan,Oregon has a federalprison camp ELLIS: I had a client who literally passedout in the outsideof a mediumlevel securityfacility about60 courtroom after sentencing was imposed. The judge miles from Portland. ordered the nurse to resuscitate him. If you are Jewish,I would saythe federalprison I have had clients cry. But generally, white- campat Otisville, New York, about70 miles from collar defendantsare not crybabies. New York City. CCR: Since 1998,you have been putting out the It hasprograms for orthodoxand religious Federal Prison Guidebook It comes out every two Jews.It hasreligious furloughs where people leave years.What's in it? the prison for religiousholidays. ELLIS: There is a full description of every federal CCR: Evenif you werenot Jewish,Otisville would prison in the United States- security level, location, makethe top five? hotels and motels nearby where family members ELLIS: No. I would throw in the federalprison can stay, vocational programming, drug and alcohol campat PensacolaNaval Base. treatment, libraries, educational programming, You get out during the day, you work on the recreationalfacilities. Naval base,you interminglewith Navy personnel. We have practice tips. An interview titled - The food is better.You are outside.I've had people How to Do Time. An article titled Securing a who were taking careof the groundsat the admiral,s Federal Prison Placement. house.The admiral's wife would bring out This is the Fodor's guide to federal prisons. lemonade,invite the inmatein for lunch.Things of It is not subjective. that sort. We don't say - this is the place to go, the food I alsoshould mention that sometimesa defense is great, the staffis terrific. lawyerplays up a prisoner'sillness in the hopesof CCR: You don't rate the food? gettinga more lenient sentence,and it backfires. ELLIS: No, we don't do ratings. It's all too The Bureauof Prisonsorders the inmateto a subjective.One client said to me - this place is federalmedical prison, which is not minimum great Alan. Another client goes to the same place, security. and he hates it. CCR: Wereyou oncepresident of theNational CCR: If you were to recommend a place for a Associationof Criminal DefenseLawyers white-collar criminal, what would you recommend? (NACDL)? Give me the top five. ELLIS: Yes,in 1990.I wasthe only non-trial ELLIS: Yankton. South Dakota. A stand alone lawyerup until that time to be president. federal prison camp. A vanishing breed. These are CCR: How many criminal defenselawyers are there camps that are not satellites to larger more secure in the country? institutions. It happens to be a converted college ELLIS: Thereare 12,000members of theNACDL. that went defunct. It's in the middle of the town. not Somaybe 75,000 total. But only l5 percent on the outskirts. There is a lot of community concentrateon federalpractice. programming. People leave during the day and CCR: The NACDL recentlyreceived a grantto set come back at night. up a white-collarcrime project.Who is the donor? Englewood,Colorado. That's outside of ELLIS: I don't know. Denver. It's a satellite camp to the federal CCR: Why the big secret? correction institution there. I'm told by my clients ELLIS: The donor wantsto be anonymous. that it is a pretty laid back place. CCR: One last thing. Do white-collardefendants Texarkana, Texas. The federal prison camp worry aboutbeing assaulted- sexuallyor otherwise there has an drug and alcohol treatment program. It - in prison?And is it a legitimateconcern? has a pond stocked with fish. And one of my clients ELLIS: Not really, but it canhappen - that's why said he liked to spendhis day fishing. we havea chapterin our Guidebookon how to do CCR: Any place where you can play golf? time. ELLIS: No. fContact: Alan Ellis, 910 lrwin Street,San CCR: But you can fish? Rafael,Califurnia 94901.Phone: (415)460-1430. ELLIS: Yes. But most people suffer from boredom E-mail: aelaw I @alanellis. c om. in prison. The most common complaint in prison is www.alanellis.comJ

16 CORPORATECRIME REPORTERMONDAY JULY 25.2OO5