Wednesday, September 27, 2017

Shocker -- feds now say Scott Rothstein was lying

Shocker -- Feds now say Scott Rothstein was lying! You don't say!

From the Herald:

Convicted South Florida Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein, a disbarred attorney who ran a $1.2 billion investment scheme out of his Fort Lauderdale law firm, will not be receiving a reduction in his 50-year prison sentence because he lied to federal prosecutors, authorities said Tuesday.

Prosecutors withdrew their pending motion to reduce Rothstein's sentence based on his cooperation in the sprawling racketeering investigation because he was “untruthful in an affidavit” filed with the federal court. Rothstein, who helped the U.S. attorney's office gain convictions of almost 30 defendants, was hoping to see many years cut from his sentence for his assistance.

That reward won't happen.

“In the judgment of the United States, the defendant provided false material information to the government and violated the terms of his plea agreement,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence LaVecchio wrote in a motion to withdraw an earlier request for a sentence reduction with U.S. District Judge James Cohn. “Therefore, in the exercise of its sole discretion, the government moves to withdraw the previously filed motion.”

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now, did any of that false material information result in the convictions of other defendants, and if so, are the Feds going to do anything about that?

Anonymous said...

Rothstein was on the run, and out of the country, with a bag of money. His mistake was to return home to face justice. A day, however long, is worth more than all the false promises of the DOJ. Rothstein will die in prison, or be so old when released he can go right to the old-age home. Yes, Rothstein was a total criminal. One of the worst white-collar crooks ever. But still, Live Free or Die.

Anonymous said...

the old bait and switch

Anonymous said...

Rothstein was from New Hampshire?

Anonymous said...

Say it ain't so Joe, I mean Scott.

What about Kimmie? Anyone see her lately?

David Tucker said...

I represented Kim. I imagine this was a difficult decision but this was the right call. Anything else would have greatly damaged the credibility of the USAO.

Anonymous said...

Re 1:05 PM, Rothstein was not from New Hampshire. Wikipedia says, "Rothstein was born in the Bronx and moved with his parents to Lauderhill, Florida as a teenager."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_W._Rothstein

"Live Free or Die" is the official motto New Hampshire, and Vivre Libre ou Mourir ("Live free or die") was a popular motto of the French Revolution.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Free_or_Die

Wikipedia has a concise summation of the "$1.2 billion Ponzi scheme".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_W._Rothstein#.241.2_billion_Ponzi_scheme

I found this reference to TFB interesting: "Rothstein, Rosenfeldt, and Adler's trust account was part of the Interest on Lawyer Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program that was paying hundreds of thousands of dollars a month to the Florida Bar Foundation."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_W._Rothstein#Trust_account

And another reference to TFB: "The interest on the funded IOLTA accounts went to the Florida Bar monthly, which was many millions, based on the Banyon contributions."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_W._Rothstein#Partners.27_income_strategy_and_Rothstein.27s_returns

Re: David Tucker 1:14 PM, as Anonymous 9:47 AM noted, "...did any of that false material information result in the convictions of other defendants, and if so, are the Feds going to do anything about that?" The Herald reported Rothstein helped the U.S. attorney's office gain convictions of almost 30 defendants. So how would "Anything else would have greatly damaged the credibility of the USAO."?

Seems to me the credibility of the USAO was damaged by reneging on its deal with Rothstein, and getting convictions of almost 30 defendants on the Rothstein deal and Rothstein’s lies "because he was "untruthful in an affidavit" filed with the federal court". (Herald)

The Wikipedia article also notes Rothstein had a "teen-aged daughter" at the time. Did the USAO consider her in its decision to renege on its deal with Rothstein?

Anonymous said...

You all sound like a bunch of robots. He made a deal and lied. No reduction. Horseshoes and hand grenades.