L O N G P O S T. Consider yourself warned.
CONSEQUENCES. A SATURDAY NIGHT/ SU SURVEY
CASES: 1. PD Employee Embezzlement (a hypo) 2. False Report to LE, False Rpt of Incident
CR filed false report w LE & wasted people's time. She is safe; no toddler left on dark hiway.
Sitting on a “WS jury” that’s now likely found her guilty on two charges, what are approp. consequences?
I tried to think of a diff. crime w some similarities; but w SAME RESULT $______ loss to PD dept.
For the sake of simplicity, I address only the 2 offenses charged* (not spa items, not B & E if she stayed house-for-sale).
CASE 1. City PD. EMPLOYEE EMBEZZLEMENT. HYPOTHETICAL CASE for comparison,
A City PD employee, 26 y/o, in accounting dept has access to authorize & issue payments to vendors (hypo ex: fuel for patrol cars, & many other PD expenses), by ACH transfer, etc..
One day Acct’g Dept employee (AD) makes a few ACH transfers (which look like legit payments to vendors or contractors of City PD) to personal bank a/cs which she controls, either in her name or a/c’s she opened in bogus business names. Employee Embezzlement 101.
Same or next day, from those bank a/c’s, AD withdraws all the $ In currency; 49 hrs later, none of the purloined funds are still in AD’s possession, custody, or control.
Where did $ go? On day of withdrawal, say, one of these, just a LARK, no addiction, no mental illness:
- At local casino, AD hit the blackjack tables, lost it all in one night.
- AD bought street drugs, shared w friends, all gone in one night.
- AD bought diamond jewelry from dude travelling thru town, turned out to be 3d rate rhinestones.
- AD _____ (insert other action here).
LOSS to City PD by embezzlement in Case 1? Audit estab’s $ amt embezzled; AD pleads guilty.
$ 10,000. Or __,000? Or pick another $ amt, the same as Case 2 below w CR.
SURVEY QUESTION 1:What are approp criminal legal consequences for Hypo-AD?
CASE 2. FALSE REPORT TO LE, FALSE RPT OF INCIDENT
From a car, CR phones 911 to report toddler walking alone on highway shoulder.
City LEOs respond to scene, fail to locate caller or toddler.
Case snowballs w more & more LEOs over a period of days.
Regular days off, vacation days scheduled, etc. for LEOs are cancelled. All hands on deck & lot of overtime $ for this case, leaves. skeleton crew for other divisions, like murders, manslaughters, rapes, armed robberies.
Keeping this simple, let's not involve other LE agencies or forces, not local/county, state, or federal. We’ll also ignore efforts of private citizens who volunteered, searching, putting up posters, etc.
The third day, CR returns to parents' home where she lives, contacts LE heading the investigation to say--- Whoops, no kidnapping, no toddler, did not really mean it. ‘K- bye.
City Ch/Police has staff calculate $ figures for investigations' costs, expenses, e.g., regular pay for LEOs assigned to case, overtime pay for same, maybe gasoline for cruisers, whatever.
They total all $ spent specifically to track down toddler & caller, which failed because:
After giving false info to LE in 911 call, CR continued w her plan to voluntarily disappear for a couple days, for her own reasons (get BF back, scare parents, annoy brother, badfle someone unknown to us, have a medical procedure, just chillax, what-ev).
LOSS to City PD due to extra expenses City PD incurred & paid in Case 2 because of CR’s lies.
$ 10,000? Or __,000? Or pick another $ amt.
SURVEY QUESTION 2. What are approp criminal legal consequences for CR?
SURVEY QUESTION 3:
In both cases, $ DAMAGE to City PD is SAME ($ 10,000 or $___, your chosen amt).
Legally, technically CR is charged w False Rpt to LE & False Rpt of Incident* and Hypo AD w embezzlement.
Are the approp. legal consequences the SAME for BOTH?
(My thoughts re Question 3. FWIW: similar/same consequences for Hypo-AD & CR, as they both knowingly engaged in premeditated, illegal acts. AND if, just after starting, either reconsidered/had second thoughts, either could have prevented the all/virtually all $ damages inflicted on City-PD, the victim.
Not like shooting & killing someone, in situation where perp cannot undo death.
HYPO-AD could have said to self, I made a mistake w’drawing $ from bank, I’ll pay it all back now. She did not.
While still on hiway shoulder, CR could have redialed 911, said – No kidnapping, no toddler, I’ll wait til LE arrives. But she did not.)
Thanks for reading. Hopefully, TiA for responding.
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ALABAMA CRIMINAL OFFENSES, SENTENCES, FINES.
CR is charged w TWO Class A misdemeanors, and for EACH ---
- “ definite term of imprisonment in the county jail or to hard labor for the county, not more than one year.” (per
2009 Alabama Code :: Title 13A — CRIMINAL CODE. :: Chapter 5 — PUNISHMENTS AND SENTENCES. :: Section 13A-5-7 Sentences of imprisonment for misdemeanors and violations.)
- a fine “not more than $6,000;” (per
2009 Alabama Code :: Title 13A — CRIMINAL CODE. :: Chapter 5 — PUNISHMENTS AND SENTENCES. :: Section 13A-5-12 Fines for misdemeanors and violations.)
Below, from
Charges Filed Against Carlee Russell - Hoover Police Department
Section 13A-10-9. “False reporting to law enforcement authorities.
(a) A person commits the crime of false reporting to law enforcement authorities if he knowingly makes a false report or causes the transmission of a false report to law enforcement authorities of a crime or relating to a crime.
Section 13A-11-11 “Falsely reporting an incident.
(a) A person commits the crime of falsely reporting an incident if with knowledge that the information reported, conveyed, or circulated is false, he or she initiates or circulates a false report or warning of an alleged occurrence or impending occurrence of a …. crime, catastrophe, or emergency… or to cause public inconvenience or alarm.”(sbm)
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