Rothstein Pleads Guilty

Disgraced Florida SuperLawyer and Ponzi scheme operator Scott Rothstein pleaded guilty this week to multiple federal felony charges against him and will now be sentenced in May. A competent U.S. Attorney in South Florida moved quickly against Rothstein just months ago and seized his assets as soon as federal agents discovered he was operating a massive Ponzi scheme.

The similarities between Rothstein and Indianapolis' Timothy Durham are striking. Both had the appearance of experiencing meteoric business success through classic Ponzi schemes. Both acquired luxury homes, cars, art work, yachts and airplanes. Both lavished huge contributions on politicians. And both had developed close relationships with law enforcement officials. None of that mattered in the end for Rothstein, but the results in Indianapolis have been far different. The Marion Co. Prosecutor is in his back pocket. Many local law enforcement officials worked as off-duty security personnel for Durham, including a firm tied to former Marion Co. Sheriff candidate Tim Montsinger, who received $200,000 from a holding company for Durham's Fair Finance Company and dropped out after making that disclosure public. Acting U.S. Attorney Tim Morrison inexplicably dropped efforts to seize assets of Durham and his associates, thereby allowing them to liquidate their prized possessions in full public view to the horror of thousands of investors who may never recover the more than $200 million they invested in Durham's Fair Finance.

It looks like Indiana's criminal justice system is far more forgiving to people who have money to buy justice than Florida's. A convicted Greenwood funeral home operator who stole nearly $24 million from cemetery trusts has just recently been sentenced to home detention. An investigation of prescription drug fraud involving Colts owner Jim Irsay got lost a few years ago. The U.S. Attorney's Office here passed on prosecuting cronies of former Lawrence Mayor Tom Schneider who walked off with the City's water utility and millions of dollars in cash and assets with the assistance of the Ice Miller law firm a few years back. Yep, Tim Durham will probably be allowed to divert millions of ill-gotten gains and maybe even avoid criminal prosecution altogether at the rate Tim Morrison's office is moving on this case. You get the best justice money can buy here in Indiana.