Schiff Gets Extra 11 Months

[Demosthenes]

I seriously doubt Schiff is going to sneak a cell phone to try and promote his crap under those conditions, it would be his last chance and he would know it. Its that or sit in a cell do not pass go.

Then you don't understand Schiff very well. He's a zealot. He'd already spent years in prison on two occasions as a result of peddling his scam. He violated the terms of his release the second time he was incarcerated and was sent back to prison to finish his sentence. Knowing all of this, as soon as he was released, he went right back into scam peddling. He's 80 years old and knew that this was his last chance, and he sold his scam anyway.

This was not a victimless crime. He's ruined thousands of lives (50,000 by Schiff's estimate) by selling crap to people who were financially desperate. Same with Lynne Meredith, same with all the other promoters who got rich of scamming people who were struggling. Why do you think that tax scammers have now moved into debt elimination scamming? That's where people/marks are desperately looking for help right now.

[Dezcad]

If you look at it from a parent perspective what works more when child refuses to do their chores and contribute to the household.

1) Lock them in their room for a week while you do all the chores they were supposed to do. They will also be incapable of helping with anything beyond their chores, like a sibling, because they're locked up.

2) Make them do their chores for a week but refuse to pay them most of their allowance for failing to do it in the first place.

Which one accomplishes the intended purpose of making them do chores to begin with? Which one is easier on the household? Will locking them in their room for a week while you do their chores for them prove to be enough of a deterrent to outweigh the deterrent for the second option? Most children would chose option 2 as would most parents, the reasons for both should be obvious.

There are two different types of deterrence - General and specific. Your example merely addresses specific deterrence and is therefore woefully inadequate to address the effect that general deterrence of imprisonment (or mere threat of imprisonment) provides. This is especially true with tax crimes which, unlike many drug or alcohol crimes, are not caused in the heat of the moment.