A deal worked out by the Assistant Attorney General Lanny Breuer has released top executives at HSBC from prosecution in a 1.9 billion dollar deal that allows them to escape prosecution for money laundering charges associated with the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels. Their punishment administered by HSBC is that their bonuses will be partially deferred. What a harsh way to treat those who looked the other way and helped as terrorists and murderers laundered billions of dollars over a decade of time. The Justice Department’s reasoning for allowing the non-prosecution fee (bribe) is that prosecuting top executives at HSBC would destabilize the financial institution causing ripples throughout the financial world. In a press release Breuer announced, As a result of the government’s investigation, HSBC has . . . “clawed back” deferred compensation bonuses given to some of its most senior U.S. anti-money laundering and compliance officers, and agreed to partially defer bonus compensation for its most senior officials during the five-year period of the deferred prosecution agreement. The New York Times had this to say, “Federal and state authorities have chosen not to indict HSBC, the London-based bank, on charges of vast and prolonged money laundering, for fear that criminal prosecution would topple the bank and, in the process, endanger the financial system.” The most criminal part in all of this is that the Justice Department did exactly the same thing, they took money to look the other way instead of prosecuting the crime. http://neilrockindpcblog.com/2012/12/18/outrageous-hsbc-settlement-proves-the-drug-war-is-a-joke/
For anyone who has ever been prosecuted for any drug violation or had their property confiscated in this failed war on drugs, this is a slap in the face. The poor and people of color are disproportionately prosecuted and persecuted in this failed war on drugs where their lives are destroyed and property taken. http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/p11.pdf
Cornell Hood II was sentenced to life in prison for possesing two pounds of marijuana with intent to distribute in Louisiana. Louisiana is a state with a three strikes and your out policy. Sadly Cornell Hood II is not alone. The organization, http://lifeforpot.com/ has documented and tracked multiple cases similar to Hood’s where people are given extremely long sentences for non-violent marijuana charges. http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/581875/louisiana_man_gets_life_sentence…_for_weed
http://blog.norml.org/2011/05/10/americas-shameful-prohibition-life-sentences-for-marijuana/
Look what happened to Cameron Douglas, the white son of well-known actor Michael Douglas who was given the longest federal prison sentence ever for simple possession. http://www.drugpolicy.org/news/2012/05/cameron-douglas-son-actor-michael-douglas-given-longest-ever-federal-prison-sentence-im
Or Aaron Sandusky who received a ten-year prison sentence for operating a medical marijuana dispensary. Because he was being tried in federal court, he was not allowed to mention that his activities were legal under California law. So much for “the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth”. http://reason.com/blog/2012/10/12/can-juror-nullification-save-aaron-sandu
http://www.dailybulletin.com/ci_22325286/sandusky-sentenced-10-years-prison
What happened to Chris Williams, a medical marijuana distributor in Montana is equally disturbing. Williams who believed he had done nothing wrong and wanted to challenge federal interference in Montana’s medical marijuana laws was quickly found guilty of all 4 marijuana charges against him because in federal court, evidence suggesting that his activities were legal by Montana law were not allowed. Since the federal government tied firearm possession charges to each of the drug charges, Williams faced 80 years mandatory minimum sentencing on the weapon charges alone, even though he had not handled the firearms. U.S. Attorney Micheal Cotter offered to drop enough charges to allow Williams to serve less than ten years if he would drop his appeal in the case. Williams refused and Cotter came back with a final offer of five years in prison in exchange for dropping all appeals. Since the federal prosecutors had already won their case and were trying to lessen Williams sentence, it would seem that they also believed the mandatory sentencing to be egregiously too harsh. Yet to take five years from a mans life for helping medical marijuana patients acquire their medicine legally under state law still seems wrong to me. But to not allow a defendant to present all evidence relevent to his defense, such as the fact that his activities were legal under state law that was voted in by the citizens of that state is a horrible miscarriage of justice. What is your opinion? http://reason.com/archives/2013/01/02/plead-guilty-or-go-to-prison-for-life
Randy Johnson
itsmycountrytoo.org
itsmycountrytoo.org 