A businessman or woman who committed a crime on the business is guilty of a White Collar Crime. This type of crime would include:
o Embezzlement
o Fraud
o Stealing of funds in the company
One philosophy in the US Judiciary System where the punishment of these crimes revolves is the philosophy of Edwin Sutherland who stated that people are most likely going to commit a crime when they are surrounded by people who exhibit criminal behaviors. It is less likely that a white collar criminal will commit another crime and the punishment for such crime is to a lesser extent compared to crimes committed with violence.
White Collar Crimes are being defined as the crime committed by a person at a specific socio-economic status. The greatest factor in committing the crime is the origin of the person involved, which are most likely the people from the middle or upper class. This is very much the opposite of a crime committed with violence.
More often than not, it is believed that these crimes are less punishable than most crimes involving violence . However, embezzlement and stealing of the company funds may result to an eventual harmful effect to many people involved. If for example the fund that was stolen can never be recovered, it will lead to the suffering of the people who depend solely on the funds for their living and the white collar criminal technically stole the money of these people. In this case, the white collar criminal has inflicted more harm than the crime committed by a mugger. But, in reality, the mugger will receive more rigid punishment than the white collar criminal.
The fact that the white collar crime is committed by persons who belong to the higher socio-economic class is already an advantage. People who are of higher social value can afford to have the best lawyer they wanted to argue their defense. However, those who are at the lower socio-economic standing most likely will not be able to be represented by the best defense lawyers and are therefore dependent on the overworked defense attorneys of the state. Having a private lawyer fare better chances at winning the case as compared to people who just rely on state attorneys and this has already been shown on statistics.
Furthermore, a this type of criminal also enjoys the benefit of a minimum security prison where they can stay. This prison offers more freedom and more often than not safer than the maximum-security prisons. Therefore, one can deduce that a white collar crime does not carry the same gravity as with most other crimes even though the crime has resulted to a more devastating effect to the lives of people involved.
If you are faced with this type of crime, it is important that you contact your attorney to guide you in the process as deemed necessary under the Arizona Criminal Law and Phoenix Criminal Law.
