[tabi] Fwd: check this out, remember Rick Brown
- From: wendy.hoss@xxxxxxxxxxx
- To: tabi@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2012 20:33:58 +0000 (UTC)
This is a messed up situation in more ways than one. It really bothers me that
he is getting off the hook due to disability. How can we ever expect equality
in employment and education if we refuse to make ourselves equal in legal
matters. You do the crime, you do the time regardless of disability.
----- Original Message -----
----- Original Message -----
From: Boltz, Rachel
To: hipples@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, November 03, 2012 12:54 PM
Subject: FW: check this out, remember Rick Brown
From: Smith, Stacy
Sent: Friday, September 07, 2012 3:32 PM
To: Boltz, Rachel
Subject: check this out, remember Rick Brown
This article from the Tampa Tribune just came out today and I've already had a
few phone calls concerning the article
and was asked to post it to the list.
You'll find a copy / paste of the article below. If you prefer to google the
article, go to
www2.tbo.com/news/news/2012/sep/06/namaino1-blind-man-who-stole-from-vets-avoids-jail-ar-484543
Blind man who stole from vets avoids jail
By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 06, 2012
» 0 Comments | Post a Comment
TAMPA --
Eight days after he started working at a clinic for blinded veterans, Richard
Brown started stealing from it.
Blind himself and with both legs amputated below the knee, Brown "was an expert
at making people trust him," his former boss, Nancy Kirk, told a judge
Wednesday during a sentencing hearing in federal court.
"Fellow employees trusted him," Kirk said. "He used that trust to steal from
veterans by stealing their low-vision aids and selling them."
Brown was paid more than $78,000 a year as a coordinator helping blind veterans
in the eye clinic at James A. Haley Veterans' Hospital. And in two years,
he stole more than $88,000 worth of equipment, such as iPads and iPhones,
selling them at discounted prices to friends and relatives and on eBay.
Brown's attorney, public defender Adam Allen, asked U.S. District Judge Steven
D. Merryday to give Brown probation — not the 10 months in prison a prosecutor
recommended — because of his extensive medical problems, his lack of a criminal
history and his intention to repay what he stole.
Allen said Brown was paying off debts. But Kirk said Brown bragged to coworkers
about purchasing "big-ticket items like a big-screen TV, a new car and
new furniture."
This was not, she said, "a mistake by someone experiencing financial problems.
This is a pattern of behavior that is not likely to change."
Brown, she said, "spoke constantly of his dedication to the veterans and how
hard he worked to help them. He was the first to tell me when he felt a
co-worker
was not doing their best for veterans."
Allen told Merryday that Brown is deeply remorseful and determined to repay the
government. His actions have strained his marriage — his wife also is blind
— and his relationship with his military family. Although Brown is not a
veteran, Brown's father served 29 years in the Air Force and his two brothers
also served, Allen said.
"He's let them down," Allen said. "He let his wife down; he let his brother's
down."
"Don't forget the country," Merryday said.
"He let the country down," Allen agreed.
Brown, 48, of Brandon, lost his vision and his legs because of Type 1 diabetes,
which also cost him a kidney and his pancreas. He may be on the verge of
organ failure again, Allen said.
He also has heart problems and had quadruple bypass surgery in 1998. Allen said
Brown takes 13 medications a day, including one drug that's not available
in federal prisons.
"I know what I've done, like he said, has hurt me and my family," Brown told
the judge. "I hurt myself. I want to pay back everything that I can pay back.
… I want to show society that I wasn't the person that committed that crime.
That's not me."
While she did not take a position on whether Brown should be imprisoned, Kirk,
his former boss, told Merryday she wanted to make sure Brown is never again
in a position to steal. He should not ever "be placed in a position of trust
with any organization," she said.
"Mr. Brown's visual impairment was not a problem when I hired him," Kirk said.
"He had the ability to perform his work at a very high level. His evaluations
were always outstanding, and I recommended him for a $1,000 performance award
for his work with the veterans. His abilities were in no way marginal. His
visual impairment should not be used now as a reason to make him less
responsible."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sara Sweeney didn't dispute Brown's medical problems
are severe. But she said the prison system is equipped to treat him.
The judge said that Brown had insulted "the dignity of not only the veterans,
but the country and the office that he took."
"There is a sense that what he deserves and what is sensible to give him are
probably two different things," Merryday continued. "This offense is especially
bothersome. … He should have had a special affinity for the persons he was
serving."
Brown's medical condition is "not a license to steal," Merryday said. "It's not
a license to go in and recklessly rip off the taxpayers and, not only the
government, but people in need."
Merryday said he's skeptical Brown is remorseful, and may just be sorry he was
caught.
But in the end, the judge granted Allen's request and sentenced Brown to five
years of probation. In addition to paying restitution, Brown must serve eight
months of home detention.
The judge urged Brown to comply with all restrictions while he is on probation,
warning him that if he steps over the line, he will go to prison. "If you
don't think you will go to jail, go to prison, if you violate the terms of this
supervised release," the judge said, "try me."
esilvestrini@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
(813) 259-7837 Twitter: @ElaineTrib
Stacy Smith
Job developer Specialist
Department of Education
Division of Blind Services
1185 Dunn Ave. Daytona Beach Fl. 32114
Stacy.Smith@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
386-254-3898
Fax 386-239-6107
“Ask not what employers can do for you, but what you can do for employers”.
John F. Kennedy
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- » [tabi] Fwd: check this out, remember Rick Brown - wendy . hoss
