Ex-Con Godmother

[Dena]

He was found guilty on four counts: perjury, conspiracy, making false statements and obstruction of agency proceedings. As with Stewart, he was not convicted of any improper sales of securities.

from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bacanovic

 

Is he still employed my Merrill (or any other firm) or do employers regard this as "a big deal"?

[derf5585]

Is he still employed my Merrill (or any other firm) or do employers regard this as "a big deal"?

 

March 7, 2006 -- MARTHA Stewart's jailbird ex-stockbroker, Peter Bacanovic, may be banned from Wall Street, but he found steady work as a "walker" during Oscar week. The openly gay hunk moved to L.A

from

http://www.nypost.com/gossip/pagesix/60671.htm

[DrD]

It's been addressed. She did the crime, served her time. Who the godmother is does not dictate who I cruise with. Honestly it's about as relavant in my life as a pimple on her behind. Does not affect me either way.

 

Of course I used to live in a U of M co-op that had a HUGE painting of Che Guevera on the wall of the dining room. The food was pretty good, even though I do not agree with his politics.

 

I don't care either, but let's not kid ourselves that "she served her time."

 

A felony is for life.

 

First of all, she's still on probation, so she has not really yet "served her time." She is still restricted on her movments and actions and is not truly free.

 

Second, even when probation is over, she will never be allowed to vote, and she can't even go to Canada without special permission (Convicted felons act.)

 

Third, a felony is always on your record, and will affect punishment in any future transgressions.

 

So let's not be so naive.

 

What blew me away about he whole thing, is she did all this to save $60,000 when her net worth was in the hundreds of millions! To me that shows very poor judgement or a true disdain for the law. She deserved what she got, even if no one was hurt. The laws of this land helped her get so rich, she should not get to ignore them when it's convenient.

[flynrph]

 

What blew me away about he whole thing, is she did all this to save $60,000 when her net worth was in the hundreds of millions! To me that shows very poor judgement or a true disdain for the law. She deserved what she got, even if no one was hurt. The laws of this land helped her get so rich, she should not get to ignore them when it's convenient.

 

That's pretty much it in a nutshell!

 

Oh, and she got convicted over lying about an insider trade but not insider trading. Same difference to me. It was about inappropriate insider trading, which by her profession, is proscribed against.

[Dena]

. She deserved what she got, even if no one was hurt. The laws of this land helped her get so rich, she should not get to ignore them when it's convenient.

 

Are we sure no one got hurt. Somebody bought the stock she sold.

[madelinerose]

LOL! Funniest thing I've read all day! Thanks, Gary! ;)

 

Oh well, I got to get back to baking muffins, growing my own herbs, and creating placemats from old cruise ship menus and princess patters....lolGary

[derf5585]

A felony is for life.

So let's not be so naive.

 

I'm naive

 

A person convicted of a felony may have more restrictions on their rights than a person convicted of a lesser crime. In many jurisdictions, felons cannot serve on juries. Often times they lose their right to vote or to practice certain professions, such as lawyer or teacher. Felons may be prohibited from owning guns or serving in the military.

from

http://www.hmichaelsteinberg.com/feloniesmisdemeanors.htm

[DrD]

I'm naive

 

A person convicted of a felony may have more restrictions on their rights than a person convicted of a lesser crime. In many jurisdictions, felons cannot serve on juries. Often times they lose their right to vote or to practice certain professions, such as lawyer or teacher. Felons may be prohibited from owning guns or serving in the military.

from

http://www.hmichaelsteinberg.com/feloniesmisdemeanors.htm

 

 

Uhhh... that's what I'm saying, right?

[mariakitty]

I am a Martha fan and I don't see one thing wrong with having her as the godmother of the Crown. This is a woman who created an empire out of nothing, is a strong employer of women, and made being a homemaker "cool" again. She served her time, so that is the end of it as far as I'm concerned. Afterall, she was convicted of lying about a crime that the charges were dropped on. How is this any different than lying on your taxes??

[T&J]

Ya and so what????...you think she (Martha) has a burning desire to join the Army or go out to a Walmart in the deep south and buy a gun?...give me a break!Tony

[jennew]

I am not sure if all states are like this, but in NY they reward you for lying in court.

 

Before everyone thinks I am whacked, go spend some time in Traffic Court. If you are caught speeding, you cut a deal with the DA. You plead "not guilty" and they lower to offense to a minor violation. This reduces your fine and the points on your license.

 

My thought: Lying in court is wrong unless it helps you personally:rolleyes:

 

 

For the record: I would have dumped my stock if I found out that it was about to hit the toilet- who wouldn't?

[DrD]

I am a Martha fan and I don't see one thing wrong with having her as the godmother of the Crown. This is a woman who created an empire out of nothing, is a strong employer of women, and made being a homemaker "cool" again. She served her time, so that is the end of it as far as I'm concerned. Afterall, she was convicted of lying about a crime that the charges were dropped on. How is this any different than lying on your taxes??

 

She was under oath

 

She got caught

[jennew]

She was under oath

 

She got caught

 

She served her time.

 

End of story.

[bdjam]

So the pedifile that is arrested the first time and has served his "time" should be allowed to live next door to you and babysit your kids?? After all, they should be given another chance....

First, there is a difference between preying on innocent children and selling some stock or not being truthful with Federal officials, but to speak to the point, if a pedophile was convicted, served his or her time and was proven to be rehabilitated, I would be in favor of giving them the same chance as anyone else. Not that they shouldn’t be watched – as those with that past are – but they should still be given a chance.

 

Just for the record, I do community work and some of the people I interact with have less than stellar pasts – and there are lots of reasons for those pasts, some of which can be addressed and made better. Perhaps because I have day to day dealings with these people, my sensibilities are different than the rest of the mob. I think it short-sided, somewhat cruel and morally wrong to discount a soul because of some mistakes, especially if they've made an effort to correct those mistakes. Perhaps if we understood and helped instead of ostracizing we wouldn’t have these continual societal issues.

I wish more people would read what you wrote...she was supposed to be convicted of lying to Fed officials but it was clear after the jury came back that they mistakenly convicted for insider trading...as you said two different things and a charge that was never levied against her...INJUSTICE PREVIALED THAT DAY!

Isn’t this scary? We agree on something.

 

Think whatever, but the bottom line is that Princess is looking for publicity with the inauguration of Crown Princess. Judging by the number of responses to this thread, their plan is working brilliantly.

[T&J]

Bdjam...must of been a blue moon incident or something...but imagine we agree on something....you see there is hope!Tony

[stoneharborlady]

She served her time.

 

End of story.

 

 

 

Actually the story has not ended yet. I believe she is still serving her time, under house arrest.

[DrD]

I am not sure if all states are like this, but in NY they reward you for lying in court.

 

Before everyone thinks I am whacked, go spend some time in Traffic Court. If you are caught speeding, you cut a deal with the DA. You plead "not guilty" and they lower to offense to a minor violation. This reduces your fine and the points on your license.

 

My thought: Lying in court is wrong unless it helps you personally:rolleyes:

 

 

For the record: I would have dumped my stock if I found out that it was about to hit the toilet- who wouldn't?

 

A plea is a legal concept, there's no lying involved.

 

Saying "I didn't do it" is a lie.

 

Pleading "not guilty" is not. It simply means "go ahead and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I did it and if you can't then it's over."

 

I wouldn't if it were against the law, especially if it was such a trivial amount compared to how much I had.

 

She had net worth of $420 million at the time of the sale of her $60,000 stock. assuming she would have lost ALL her money if she followed the rules, she saved 0.01% of her net worth.

 

For the average American with a net worth of $86,100 (2001 figures) that amount is equivalent to $8.61

 

so would I personally break the law to save $60,000? Maybe, since that would be half my life savings. Would I break the law to save 9 bucks? No.

 

And the worst part is that the sucker who bought it for $60,000 and then lost his shirt may have been an average Joe like us and may have lost alot of his life savings. (of course it was much more likely to have been an institutional investor, but the point still stands.)

 

So the bottom line is she, in an effort to save what is for her a trivial amount of money, passed the losses to someone else, who almost certainly could afford them alot less.

 

So Hell no I wouldn't do that, any more than I'd sell a junk car that wouldn't run by lying to some poor college kid and taking 3 months of his rent money for it.

[jennew]

Her house arrest ended last fall.

[T&J]

Actually the story has not ended yet. I believe she is still serving her time, under house arrest.

Sorry no more anckle bracelet for her and the house arrest was way over and done with....she has only a probation officer until next year when her probation is over as well.Tony

[DrD]

She served her time.

 

End of story.

 

I guess you haven't had a chance to read the whole thread.

 

She has not yet served her time as she's still on probation.

 

And the story does not end after you've served your time.

 

For a more detailed explanation please read the other posts above.

 

But anyway I don't care if she is the Godmother, but I do think it's a bit odd to have a felon in this role.

[Nliedel]

No she cannot buy a gun and may not want to, but I'll just bet she'd like to vote. That's over for her.

[Dena]

Martha Stewart had an upper middle class childhood (at least most of it was). I don’t know what troubled past she could have had that would justify her actions. On the contrary, she was a former stockbroker and was well aware of the ethical and legal consequences of her stock transaction. The reason that insider trading is a crime is to protect the average investor who lacks such information. Essentially using insider information is stealing (more specifically it is the rich stealing from the Average Joe). Lying on your taxes is also stealing.

[jennew]

A plea is a legal concept, there's no lying involved.

 

Saying "I didn't do it" is a lie.

 

Pleading "not guilty" is not. It simply means "go ahead and prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I did it and if you can't then it's over."

 

I wouldn't if it were against the law, especially if it was such a trivial amount compared to how much I had.

 

She had net worth of $420 million at the time of the sale of her $60,000 stock. assuming she would have lost ALL her money if she followed the rules, she saved 0.01% of her net worth.

 

For the average American with a net worth of $86,100 (2001 figures) that amount is equivalent to $8.61

 

so would I personally break the law to save $60,000? Maybe, since that would be half my life savings. Would I break the law to save 9 bucks? No.

 

Excellent point...and I agree. thank you for putting this together.

 

For the record, I still don't have a problem with her being a "God mother"...she did not hurt anyone with her actions (unlike Enron's mess). She did something wrong, she was punished, now let her move on.

[derf5585]

Actually the story has not ended yet. I believe she is still serving her time, under house arrest.

 

On March 4,2005 Stewart was released from Alderson in the early morning hours and arrived back at her multimillion-dollar 153-acre New York estate to begin serving the five-month home detention portion of her sentence.

from

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,113424,00.html

 

Details of Martha Stewart's house-arrest conditions were laid out Thursday by the chief probation officer for U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.

from

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/03/04/stewart.release/index.html

[Dena]

she did not hurt anyone with her actions (unlike Enron's mess). She did something wrong, she was punished, now let her move on.

 

The person/people who bought her stock may well have been hurt.