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Brian Dunning lawsuit

WillyWonka said:
Can someone explain how the US judicial system works in this case? In general, US penalties are much harsher than in Canada for similar crimes, but, in this case, it does not seem to be so. In Canada, Earl Jones pleaded guilty to fraud for C$50m and got 11 years, and now Dunning would get less than 2 years for almost the same amount!
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We tend to treat violent crime much harsher than non-violent.
 
WillyWonka said:
Can someone explain how the US judicial system works in this case? In general, US penalties are much harsher than in Canada for similar crimes, but, in this case, it does not seem to be so. In Canada, Earl Jones pleaded guilty to fraud for C$50m and got 11 years, and now Dunning would get less than 2 years for almost the same amount!
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Drug, sex and violent crimes are what will get you a long stretch. I remember catching a guy with a bunch of child porn on his computer. He went away for 12 years on a federal charge and that was the plea deal.
 
The Central Scrutinizer said:
15 months in the slammer + 3 years of probation.

Reports to his new home on Sept 2nd.
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I like the guy a lot as a person, so one one level I feel sorry for him. On the other hand, considering the magnitude of the crime, I'd say he got off pretty light. It all sounds pretty reasonable to me.
 
Seeing that the sentencing came down yesterday, this puts a different light on two mini-podcasts Dunning released in the last month.

On July 4 he put out a short segment called "Listeners Have a Say", and just the other day, on August 1, he put out another several-minute clip titled "Listeners Have Another Say." Both of these were included in the regular Skeptoid podcast feed, and featured audio of Skeptoid listeners explaining why they financially supported the Skeptoid podcast. And they ended with a request for donations, including the option of recurring micro-payments.

What rubs me wrong now is that both of these were released while Dunning knew he was due to be sentenced on August 4. Given that his own counsel was probably recommending Hogan's sentence (five months incarceration), he was staring down the barrel of at least a short prison sentence regardless; at the time of the August 1 podcast, the feds' sentencing recommendation had already been filed three days earlier.

And it's not like these 'extra' financial support podcasts were a common feature. The only previous times he did bonus, non-skeptical podcasts was to make some announcement about Skeptoid: books being available, a Chinese translation, the 501(c)(3) being established. Pure 'Donate to Skeptoid' installments appear to be unprecedented, prior to last month.

Yet twice in the last month, he was suddenly putting out original content exclusively devoted to encouraging listeners to financially support the show. Unless he had a plan to keep new Skeptoid content coming during his at-least-five-months' sentence, I find the timing of these pleas to be highly unsympathetic in retrospect.
 
Loren said:
Seeing that the sentencing came down yesterday, this puts a different light on two mini-podcasts Dunning released in the last month.

On July 4 he put out a short segment called "Listeners Have a Say", and just the other day, on August 1, he put out another several-minute clip titled "Listeners Have Another Say." Both of these were included in the regular Skeptoid podcast feed, and featured audio of Skeptoid listeners explaining why they financially supported the Skeptoid podcast. And they ended with a request for donations, including the option of recurring micro-payments.

What rubs me wrong now is that both of these were released while Dunning knew he was due to be sentenced on August 4. Given that his own counsel was probably recommending Hogan's sentence (five months incarceration), he was staring down the barrel of at least a short prison sentence regardless; at the time of the August 1 podcast, the feds' sentencing recommendation had already been filed three days earlier.

And it's not like these 'extra' financial support podcasts were a common feature. The only previous times he did bonus, non-skeptical podcasts was to make some announcement about Skeptoid: books being available, a Chinese translation, the 501(c)(3) being established. Pure 'Donate to Skeptoid' installments appear to be unprecedented, prior to last month.

Yet twice in the last month, he was suddenly putting out original content exclusively devoted to encouraging listeners to financially support the show. Unless he had a plan to keep new Skeptoid content coming during his at-least-five-months' sentence, I find the timing of these pleas to be highly unsympathetic in retrospect.
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I suspect there will be plenty of rubes sending him money when he gets out.
 
WillyWonka said:
Can someone explain how the US judicial system works in this case? In general, US penalties are much harsher than in Canada for similar crimes, but, in this case, it does not seem to be so. In Canada, Earl Jones pleaded guilty to fraud for C$50m and got 11 years, and now Dunning would get less than 2 years for almost the same amount!
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Based on what I have read, the amount he defrauded eBay of was a little over $5 million. I am not sure where this $35 million number comes from.
 
TheSkepticCanuck said:
Based on what I have read, the amount he defrauded eBay of was a little over $5 million. I am not sure where this $35 million number comes from.
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Moreover, whatever the actual amount was, the prosecutors' sentencing recommendation stated that "the parties have stipulated a loss between $200,000 and $400,000." So that's what the 15-month sentence was based upon.
 
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