{"id":4356,"date":"2006-02-03T11:06:27","date_gmt":"2006-02-03T15:06:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2006\/02\/03\/more-misplaced-mercy-from-jud"},"modified":"2011-08-05T14:54:12","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T18:54:12","slug":"more-misplaced-mercy-from-judge-murtha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2006\/02\/03\/more-misplaced-mercy-from-judge-murtha\/","title":{"rendered":"more misplaced mercy from judge murtha"},"content":{"rendered":"

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A month ago, we opined<\/FONT><\/A> <\/FONT>that <\/FONT>J. Garvan Murtha<\/FONT><\/A>, Chief Judge of <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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the U.S. District Court, Vermont, seems far too lenient to lawyer-<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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felons.  We gave examples from two recent cases. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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 \"scales<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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Well, he’s done it again, in the Andrew J. <\/FONT>Capoccia Debt Reduction<\/FONT><\/A> <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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fraud case — giving a one-month sentence to Thomas J. Daly, who <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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was one of the three main actors in a scheme that has left thousands <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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of clients with ruined financial histories and over $25 million in futile <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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claims for misappropriated monies by the Capoccia Law Centers of <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Albany, N.Y., and (after Capoccia’s disbarment), its successor Law <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Centers of Consumer Protection<\/EM>, in Bennington, Vermont. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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The <\/FONT>Rutland Herald<\/FONT><\/EM><\/A> reported yesterday (“Lawyer Admits Guilt in <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Fraud,” Feb. 2, 2006):<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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“A former lawyer for a bankrupt debt-reduction firm in Bennington <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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is heading for a month in federal prison on fraud and tax evasion <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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charges.  ‘I am so sorry,’ Thomas J. Daly, 44, of Bennington, told <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Judge J. Garvan Murtha on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Rutland. ‘I did commit these crimes. I’m sorry for it’.”<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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” ‘You certainly played a role in the victimization of the people who <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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depended on you to do something for them'” Murtha told Daly . . <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“The judge then sentenced Daly to one month in prison followed <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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by three years of supervised release, with three months of that time <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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to be served on house arrest. In addition, Daly was ordered to pay <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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$200,000 restitution.  <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                                                                                   “emptypocketsS”<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“In his plea agreement, Daly acknowledged that he accepted nearly <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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$200,000 in bonuses — in addition to his $200,000 salary — at a <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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time when clients were demanding refunds of at least $1 million and <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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creditors of the firm were seeking even more. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“The money for the bonuses came from an escrow account and the <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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firm’s general accounts. According to federal prosecutors, Daly knew <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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or should have known that the firm was not capable of supporting those <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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payments, given that the firm had been embezzling client money to pay <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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its day-to-day expenses.”<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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As with the sentencing of his disbarred co-conspirator <\/FONT>Howard Sinnott<\/FONT><\/A> in<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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December, Daly’s role in this complicated, well-planned rip-off of consumers <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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who were trying to avoid bankruptcy (and the subsequent hiding of millions of <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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dollars sought by NYS and the federal government to compensate the victims <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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and creditors), was blamed on a personal flaw.  Here, Daly’s defense counsel <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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told the court “that his client’s life had been ravaged by alcoholism, contributing <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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greatly to his legal problems.”<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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According to today’s <\/FONT>Albany Times Union<\/FONT><\/EM><\/A>, Andrew J. Capoccia the disbarred <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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mastermind of the debt reduction scheme (explained in a prior post<\/A>), is expected <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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to be sentenced today by Judge Murtha.  (“Capoccia faces sentencing today,” <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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Feb. 3, 2006).  Although Capoccia, who was convicted after trial last year, <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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could receive up to 20 years, Judge Murtha’s wrist-slaps to his co-conspirators <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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suggests we may see more “professional courtesy” mercy.   We’ll keep you <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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apprised. <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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update<\/FONT><\/STRONG><\/EM> (Feb. 3, 2006): See Capoccia gets 15 years for swindling clients<\/FONT><\/A> .<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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“snowflakeS”  For better judgment, consider the haiku and <\/FONT><\/DIV>
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senryu of our Honored Guest buddy Ed Markowski:<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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             roller coaster<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                we have no advice<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                    to offer the newlyweds<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT> <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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          county fair…<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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             the downcast eyes<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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               of a blue ribbon steer<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV><\/FONT><\/DIV><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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\"rollercoaster\"<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/DIV>
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 <\/DIV>
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                  midwinter dusk<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                      a fireman turns<\/FONT><\/DIV>
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                         to face the flames<\/FONT><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE>
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 <\/DIV>
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ed markowski<\/STRONG><\/FONT><\/A><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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“midwinter dusk” – Mainichi Daily<\/EM> (<\/FONT>#680<\/FONT><\/A>, Feb. 2, 2006)<\/FONT><\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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                                                                                                                                            \"scales<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/DIV>
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<\/FONT><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> <\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/DIV><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/BLOCKQUOTE><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A month ago, we opined that J. Garvan Murtha, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court, Vermont, seems far too lenient to lawyer- felons.  We gave examples from two recent cases.       Well, he’s done it again, in the Andrew J. Capoccia Debt Reduction fraud case — giving a one-month sentence to Thomas J. Daly, who […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4356","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-18g","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4356","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4356"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4356\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12798,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4356\/revisions\/12798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4356"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4356"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4356"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}