How to Get Sentenced to Prison

Steven Vaughn, who worked for Philadelphia's City Council, pled guilty April 7 to diverting $658,000 in delinquent-tax payments, which Vaughn had accepted for the city, to private operator Shamsud-din Ali so that Ali, by just handing the money to the city, could get $60,000 from the city for "collecting" it. Under pressure, the Central Germantown Council in Philadelphia (see post of May 8) and Steven Vaughn finally agreed that Vaughn would resign from his position of fiduciary responsibility in that organization as of May 27.

Ali was convicted June 14 of his role in the fraud. Vaughn came to be sentenced yesterday in federal court.

Vaughn certainly takes a positive view of life. He is convinced that, having become a criminal, he is now an expert on ethics. "I could be used to educate people... because you don't get a book that tells you what you can and can't do," Vaughn told the judge. In fact, said the former chief of staff to Councilwoman Donna Reed Miller, "I was really surprised, when the Council members were talking about ethics, that they didn't call me to seek me out. I thought I could be a resource, because there are a lot of staff members in City Hall - good people - who could be caught up in things that they just don't realize they are doing wrong."

Now government folks probably do need schooling on the finer points of contemporary ethics laws. A young government man convinced of his own integrity might well feel he was doing nothing morally wrong, for instance, in letting his wife and himself be taken on a free cruise to the Caribbean so that a trade lobbyist could have the time to explain the technicalities of a government-regulated industry. He might well have a clear conscience. You can't rely on your moral compass to know when you are violating some of the new regulations, necessary as they are.

But you should be able to rely on your moral compass to tell you, as a city official, not to hand over tax payments to a private operator so he can get big fees from the city for "collecting" them. Vaughn seemed to be claiming this is ethically a grey area. "Should I help defraud the city or not? Gee, it's confusing."

Vaughn, speaking to the judge before he was sentenced, said, "I thought I was helping people." In an odd choice of words, he described his own actions as "illegal, improper and unappreciated."

This is not a smart thing to say to a federal judge at your sentencing. The judge was looking for signs of remorse from this man so he didn't have to sentence him to prison. In admitting only that his actions were wrong in the sense of being "improper," Vaughn implied that he had merely broken some rules, and that he had no remorse, not having done anything morally wrong. His statement that his actions weren't "appreciated" could be taken in several unfortunate ways. Vaughn didn't let up, though. He continued with a tack of presenting himself as the victim, saying, "It's very embarrassing to me, to my family, to my community," Vaughn said. "It has shamed me and my family, and my impeccable reputation and good name." "It," I guess, was getting caught. He doesn't seem to believe that he brought the shame on himself.

Some courtroom observers sensed that U.S. District Judge Bruce Kauffman had come into court undecided on giving Vaughn any jail time at all, but after these statements from Vaughn, Kauffman sentenced him to five months in federal prison, five months under house arrest wearing an ankle bracelet monitored by probation officers, and 31 months' supervised release on the mail fraud and conspiracy charges. He'll pay mandatory restitution: $60,595.61 at $200 a month after he gets out of prison. He'll have it almost paid off in twenty-five years.

So here's a lesson for all you kids out there. When you're being sentenced in federal court, show some damned remorse. If you can't see yourself as a sinner, you're just not using enough imagination.

This lesson is adaptable to many of life's situations, like when your spouse wants an apology and you don't think you've done anything wrong. Believe me, you are always doing something wrong. Just dig a little deeper. Maybe it'll keep you out of prison some day.