The Overturning of Insider Trading Convictions, By Brian Jorgenson - Guest Blogger, From Prison

Progressive Prison Project 

Innocent Spouse & Children Project 

Greenwich, Connecticut

The Overturning of Insider Trading Convictions

By Brian Jorgenson - Guest Blogger, From Prison

 

Upon our learning of the successful appeal overturning the insider trading convictions of  Todd Newman & Anthony Chiasson, we reached out to some members of our community most affected by the decision.  We published the first last week: Who Watches The Watchmen, by Anonymous - A White-Collar Felon.   We invite you to submit your thoughts & feelings on the subject.  

Our ministee Brian Jorgenson reported in September

 to the FCI Herlong Camp in California to serve

 a two-year sentence for a insider trading. Brian's two prior submissions to prisonist.org, Last Blog Before Prison 

and A Commentary on Psalm 85.2, were among our most well-read and well received posts ever.   Here are his thoughts from prison. - Jeff

_________________

Several days ago, two prominent convictions for insider trading (Chiasson and Newman) were overturned by the appellate court. While I don't have access to all of the intricacies of the case, my understanding is that the convictions were overturned based on where Chiasson and Newman were in the insider trading information chain. The court found that the onus was not on them to know that the information they were trading on had been illegally disseminated. Said another way, the two portfolio managers assumed they were merely trading on stock tips, not private, material, inside information. Whether they "really" knew or not, we'll likely never know but the burden of proof should be on the government so I applaud the convictions being overturned.

Here I sit in prison for one count of insider trading (securities fraud). Does this appeal have any impact whatsoever on my current situation? Unfortunately, no. And that's because in my case, the chain had only two links in it - the tipper and the tippee. I was the tipper meaning that I provided the information to someone else to profit, so these convictions being overturned will not affect my case in the slightest. It was my personal responsibility to not provide the information, just like it was the personal responsibility of my co-defendant to not trade on the information. Both of us were in the wrong and as a result, both of us are currently incarcerated.

I want to reflect on how my incarceration has been. Today marks exactly three months (~15 to go). Through it, I've met so many guys who have taken wrong turns in life. They (and I include myself in this group) tried to take shortcuts in order to get more money, power or control in their lives. Some are remorseful and ready to move on. Others continually beat themselves up over their past mistakes. Others remain indignant and counting the days until they can resume their illegal activities. Yet, they are currently all prisoners, alongside me. And all too aware of the uphill battles they face upon re-entering society: 
-Trying to figure out how to stay clear of the people and situations that got them incarcerated
-Attempting to get a job from an employer that hires felons
-Mending the broken and violated relationships that their incarceration has caused 
-Dealing with society and the lifelong stigma of being an ex-convict
-Ultimately, trying not to be part of the sad recidivism statisic: over 60% of inmates, re-offend and end back in prison

Before coming to prison, I will admit that I wasn't filled with empathy. But that has changed after being in here. The recidivism rate is daunting for so many of these guys. And it seems so overwhelming to try to get back on track. The government doesn't do much to help felons' re-entry efforts as members of society. The stigma is very real and so many doors will be closed for us for the rest of our lives due simply to checking a box on a form labeling us as felons. While I acknowledge that I will face my fair share of obstacles, I'm not overly concerned or anxious about it. I know that God has a plan for me. I know that my relationship with my wife and kids is on firm ground. I know that I have other family, friends, business associates, and a church family that loves me and supports me. I consider myself very fortunate and know that I won't be part of the recidivism statistic.

But I'm still angry.

This anger doesn't deal with me. It deals with the guys in here and the countless others who don't have the things that I've been blessed with. They will leave prison without a game plan and society has already branded them (us) as bad apples. I find this incredibly judgmental and hypocritical. I read an article in The Week earlier today where legal experts cited that "more than 70% of Americans have committed a felony that would carry a prison term if they were caught." Maybe it was mishandling a gun, maybe it was driving while being "buzzed", maybe it was gambling online, or maybe it was cheating on your taxes.

Nevertheless, the experts posit that more than 7 out of 10 people could have been imprisoned and labeled a felon IF they would have been caught and prosecuted. So here's the hypocrisy: those 70%+ know that they've done something that could've landed them in prison. The only thing separating them between the felons/ex-convicts that they are so quick to villify is pure luck. They weren't caught but the felons were. Yet, society turns its collective nose up and brands felons for life as being untrustworthy and not deserving of a 2nd chance.

It shouldn't be this way. Now, I'm not condoning any illegal activity but when you have a felon who is trying to turn his life around and he's unable to get loans to start a business or unable to get hired anywhere or not allowed to travel outside of the state to visit his family, then the system is stacked against him. This is partly why we have such a high recidivism rate. Even the "reformed" felons can't become good standing members in society because society doesn't ALLOW them to. They keep them at arm's length, at a safe distance away. In turn, the felons resort back to the only life they knew -- a life of crime which lands them in prison.

This is not a coherent post. I'm going off on a tangent here from where I started but it's where my stream of conscious thoughts have led me so I'll end on that note. 

You can read more blogs from Brian Jorgenson

 on his website, 

bjorgenson.com.

Mail for Brian can be sent to:

Brian Jorgenson, 44044-086
FCI Herlong – Satellite Camp
PO Box 800
Herlong, CA 96113 

____________

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, Minister/Director
jgrant@prisonist.org
jg3074@columbia.edu

(o) +1203.769.1096
(m) +1203.339.5887 

Linked In Twitter  Facebook 

Lynn Springer, Advocate, Innocent Spouses & Children
lspringer@prisonist.org
(m) +1203.536.5508

George Bresnan, Advocate, Ex-Pats
gbresnan@prisonist.org

Michael Karaffa, Advocate, Disabilities
mkaraffa@prisonist.org

___________

 Comments from Social Media:

How To Overcome A Dept. of Justice Press Release: A Video By Justin Paperny - Guest Blogger

Progressive Prison Project 

Innocent Spouse & Children Project 

Greenwich, Connecticut 

How To Overcome 

A Dept. of Justice 

Press Release: A Video

 

 By Justin Paperny - Guest Blogger  

We were introduced to our guest blogger, prison

 consultant Justin Paperny, by our friend Walt Pavlo,

 the Forbes white-collar correspondent, and by Brian Jorgenson, our ministee who is currently serving

 a two-year sentence for a white-collar crime at

 FCI Herlong in California.  I've spent some time

 talking with Justin and have found him to be

 insightful and dedicated to helping our community.

 We do not have experience in referring ministees

 to Justin and thus cannot yet endorse him or his consultancy. The video he has submitted offers 
important information to our readers. 
Thank you, Justin. - Jeff

Psalm 85.2: A Commentary by Brian Jorgenson in Conversation with John Calvin

Progressive Prison Project 

Innocent Spouse & Children Project

Greenwich, Connecticut

Psalm 85.2: A Commentary By Brian Jorgenson
In Conversation With John Calvin

Our ministee Brian Jorgenson reported last month to the camp at FCI Herlong, California to serve a two-year sentence for a white-collar crime.  The night before, Brian shared with us his final thoughts in his post, Last Blog Before Prison.  We asked Brian to write a follow up blog for us based upon Psalm 85.2. Below is his commentary in conversation with John Calvin. 

 ____________

You forgave the iniquity of your people;  

you covered all their sin. Selah - Psalm 85.2

John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms (1557):

It was very natural for the faithful to feel alarmed and perplexed on account of their sins, and therefore the prophet removes all ground for overwhelming apprehension, by showing them, that God, in delivering his people, had given an irrefragable proof of free forgiveness. He had before traced this deliverance to the mere good pleasure and free grace of God as its source; but after it was wrought, the iniquities of the people having separated between them and their God, and estranged them from him, it was necessary that the remedy of pardon should be brought to their aid.

In saying that their iniquities were taken away, he does not refer to the faithful being reformed and purged from their sins, in other words, to that work by which God, sanctifying them by the Spirit of regeneration, actually removes sin from them. What he intended to say he explains immediately after. The amount, in short, is, that God was reconciled to the Jews by not imputing their sins to them.

When God is said to cover sins, the meaning is, that he buries them, so that they come not into judgment, as we have shown more at large on the 32d psalm, at the beginning. When, therefore, he had punished the sins of his people by captivity, it being his will to restore them again to their own country, he removed the great impediment to this, by blotting out their transgressions; for deliverance from punishment depends upon the remission of sin. Thus we are furnished with an argument in confutation of that foolish conceit of the Sophists, which they set forth as some great mystery, That God retains the punishment although he forgive the fault; whereas God announces in every part of his word, that his object in pardoning is, that being pacified, he may at the same time mitigate the punishment.

The sequence of the pardon of sin is, that God by his blessing testifies that he is no longer displeased.

Brian Jorgenson's Commentary From FCI Herlong (2014):

This verse has two separate thoughts but one common thread -- it all begins with God. We didn't earn forgiveness nor did We have any power in ourselves to have our sins covered. This is all God's doing, it all starts with Him and it is His gift of salvation to us. This verse's theme is consistent with the remainder of the Bible -- the overwhelming focus that we see in the Bible is not about the work of the redeemed, but rather it's all about the work of the Redeemer.

There is power, comfort and ultimate hope in this central theme. God's forgiveness does not hinge on mine or your performance (Romans Chapter 3 gets to the heart of this, especially verses 10 and 23). So if our salvation is less about us and more about what God has done for us, what does this mean? This means that when Jesus said on the cross, "It is finished", He didn't say that "it will be finished" or "phase 1 is complete". No. He declared that sin's power and the resulting eternal damnation that we deserve has been defeated, and He added the exclamation point to that statement when He rose from the grave.

All of our past sins, current sins, and future sins have already been pardoned. So, what should our response be? Let's turn again to the apostle Paul in Romans 6: "What shall we say then? Shall we persist in sin that grace may abount? Of course not! How can we who died to sin yet live in it?" So, yes, we do play a part in this but the main actor on this stage is most certainly not us, it's God and the grace He has given us.

In Brennan Manning's book "The Ragamuffin Gospel", he succinctly puts it this way: "The gospel of grace announces: forgiveness precedes repentance. The sinner is accepted before he pleads for mercy. It is already granted (remember, it is finished). The sinner need only receive it." Yes, our responsibility is to accept and receive this gift of salvation by believing in God and entering into a personal relationship with Jesus as our Lord and Savior. BUT our performance-driven society is hyperfocused on our spiritual growth and maturity (which are important). Placing too much emphasis on our doing could very well put us in the driver's seat of our Christian faith and focuses on what we're doing and less about what He's already done for us. When we're in the driver's seat, this puts Jesus in the back seat (if He's even in the car at all!). Once again, if we read this Scripture again, it brings it all back to God. YOU forgave the iniquity of your people; YOU covered all their sins."

I write these words as a prisoner currently incarcerated serving a 24-month sentence for committing insider trading. I may not have my freedom in society but I have the freedom to love God and bask in His glory and mercy regardless of my current circumstances. A Scripture that I meditate on daily is 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 "Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweights them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

This verse gives me hope. I trust in the Lord. I don't trust in myself because I have a sinful nature and I'm bound to mess up time and time again. But I trust that God knows what He's doing in my life. After all, the word "oops" is not in His vocabulary. While I may be in the middle of a difficult time, I know that the best is yet to come. I don't think it's a coincidence that Jesus' first parable was turning water into wine. He didn't do this at the beginning of the wedding feast, rather He did it at the end. Like that parable, God always saves the best for last and that is where my hope is found.

It would be very easy for me to attempt to redeem myself in here or feel the need to try to earn back my grace from God, but I realize that there is nothing to earn back. I have not lost anything despite my foolish stumble that got me here. It is finished. Rather than spin my wheels focusing on earning my salvation through my merits, I am freed up to focus on loving and serving Him and others. This is the response I feel compelled to give -- as an act of gratitude. To close, I want to relay a quote from the famed preacher Charles Spurgeon: "When I thought that God was hard, I found it easy to sin. But when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could have rebelled against the One who loved me so." Thank you God for forgiving my sins!

 ____________

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, Minister/Director

jgrant@prisonist.org
jg3074@columbia.edu
(o) +1203.769.1096
(m) +1203.339.5887

Lynn Springer, Advocate, Innocent Spouses & Children
lspringer@prisonist.org
(m) +1203.536.5508

George Bresnan, Advocate, Ex-Pats
gbresnan@prisonist.org

Michael Karaffa, Advocate, Disabilities
mkaraffa@prisonist.org

Please feel free to contact us if we can be of service to you, a friend or family member - we will promptly send you an information package by mail, email via Dropbox.

____________

Comments From Social Media: 

What was the white collar offense committed by Mr. Jorgenson? - CHARLES OLSON, Independent Law Enforcement Professional

Ministee? - Delbridge E. Narron

Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Springs Global US, Inc.

>   I admit I coined the term, "ministee." I figured if a   sponsor can have a sponsee, why can't a minister have a ministee? - Jeff  

 

Last Blog Before Prison, by Brian Jorgenson - Guest Blogger

Progressive Prison Project

Innocent Spouse & Children Project

Greenwich, Connecticut

Last Blog Before Prison 

by Brian Jorgenson - Guest Blogger

 

Brian Jorgenson has been a ministee of ours for a short few months.  In our time together, he has taught us new lessons in opening up to faith and reaching out to others for help.  We are honored that Brian wrote this blog post for us yesterday evening before he reported today to the camp at FCI Herlong in California to serve his two-year sentence for a white-collar crime. 

___________

I'm sitting here looking at the pink sunrise pouring over the hills in Reno. The sky may be completely clear but that doesn't remove the dark cloud in my life. On Tuesday morning, in just a little over 24 hours, I will be self-surrendering to federal prison (likely I will already be there by the time you read these words). Titles like felon or fraudster will be my label for the foreseeable future but starting tomorrow, my new title will be inmate. I'm not trying to get in a "woe is me" mentality but this is the stark reality of my situation.

A little background on my situation - in November 2013, I was greeted by a dozen FBI agents raiding my home in the middle of an evening with my wife and four kids. The FBI stormed in with their full garb on (bulletproof vests, armed), announced I was under investigation for insider trading and that they had a search warrant. It's hard to describe the wave of emotions that I felt on that day. I messed up greatly with this mistake but I didn't compound that error by lying to the FBI or the government. I waved the white flag that night the FBI was in my house, admitted to everything and provided a recorded, verbal confession.

Fast forward a few months later to August 2014, I was sentenced to 24 months in prison for committing this crime while working at Microsoft. At Microsoft I was a Senior Manager responsible for treasury investments and capital market strategies. It was a great job and I had a bright career ahead but that all vaporized based on my illegal actions.

The last 10 months have been extremely difficult for me and my family. However, the difficulty has been tempered by the peace and strength God has given us. I am a Christian and have used this time to grow closer to the Lord and be more outward focused by being involved with more community service events as well as serving in the church. However, just because I'm a Christian didn't keep me from compromising my morals/spiritual integrity and committing this crime. I stumbled greatly and unfortunately it's been very public. My photo was on the front page of the Seattle Times back in December when there was a media blitz about how I was charged with insider trading. All of the national newswires picked up the story and there were also plenty of articles written about me.

From that point on, I have tried to use being thrust in the spotlight to help other people. I am trying to use this terrible ordeal, this self-inflicted crisis to share my story with others, recounting the lessons I've learned (and continue to learn) in hopes that I can deter them from repeating my folly. I've also used this experience to be more bold in sharing my faith. I have been blessed with opportunities to lecture at multiple colleges, speak to several professional business groups and even record a message that was distributed to all 100,000+ employees at my former employer, Microsoft.

Here I sit writing these words on the eve of my imprisonment and I have a peace that I know has been given to me by God. This isn't a naïve peace and I'm not delusional of the challenges that lie ahead. I am about to being a prisoner for the next two years of my life. I mentioned that I'm here in Reno which is the prison I've been designated to serve my time but this is 700 miles away from my wife and kids who live in Seattle. I will not be very present in my kids' lives for the next couple years and not be able to provide, protect, and support them as I have in the past. I have been stripped of my wealth, job, reputation, and freedom. My career is ambiguous at best, so the future is very unknown.

In spite of all this, I know that I'm forgiven for making this stupid mistake. My wife, kids, other family and friends have all forgiven me and are wrapping themselves around me and my family during this tough time. Yes, some have distanced themselves from me. Yes, some have severed ties. But the Lord has brought so many new people in my life and I consider the new relationships a huge upgrade versus those that have fallen away.

I realize that I have a duty to use this experience to help others. If choosing whether or not to commit this crime was a test, then I failed it miserably. But my response to this stumbling is another test and I refuse to fail it. I will not waste this crisis. I will not get in the victim mentality that so many people fall into. I have no one to blame for my actions but myself. However, I will not wallow in self-pity nor will I beat myself up over something that is behind me and I've been forgiven for doing.

This might not be a very coherent blog entry but it is what's on my heart at the moment. I will be blogging throughout my incarceration journey at www.bjorgenson.com and will share my insights to hopefully provide encouragement to others and prevent anyone else from repeating similar folly. I count myself blessed for having such a loving wife, four amazing children, and a network of family and friends who are loving and supportive.

I want to end with a quote from CS Lewis that gives me encouragement: "No amount of falls will really undo of us if we keep on picking ourselves up each time. We shall of course be very muddy and tattered children by the time we reach home. But the bathrooms are all ready, the towels put out, and the clean clothes are in the airing cupboard.... It is when we notice the dirt that God is most present to us: it is the very sign of his presence ." - Brian Jorgenson

 You can read more blogs from Brian Jorgenson on his website, bjorgenson.com.

 __________

Progressive Prison Project/

Innocent Spouse & Children Project

 

Rev. Jeff Grant, JD, M Div, Minister/Director
jgrant@prisonist.org

(o) 203-769-1096

(m) 203-339-5887

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Lynn Springer, Founding Advocate, Innocent Spouse & Children Project
lspringer@prisonist.org

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George Bresnan, Advocate, Ex-Pats
gbresnan@prisonist.org
(203) 609-5088

Jim Gabal, Development
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If transformation and redemption matter to you, a friend or a family member with a white-collar or nonviolent incarceration issue, please contact us and we will promptly send you an information package by mail, email or via Dropbox. The darkest days of a person's life can be a time of renewal and hope.

___________Comments From Social Media:

Barbara Dudley

Business Owner at Awakenings Treatment Services

Written very well and love the message...What most interests me is the reality that there are no mistakes! We certainly don't need the experience, but, as always, it's what we do with it...I am sorry that Brian compromised his value system and grateful that he has chosen to share his humility and recovery...This gentleman's journey can be of importance to so many who are imprisoned one way or another by also doing that which is not who they "really" are...Will look forward to reading more of this journey...