Hacker News Reader

Comment by sedachv | Hacker News Reader

Federal prison camps are not that terrible: https://www.bop.gov/about/facilities/federal_prisons.jsp

Think of it like a three-year, $100 million sabbatical "upstate." That is enough time to read through the great books. Room and board are covered and there is a commissary for personal items.

View on HN

They are also not that great if you happen to annoy the wrong people. See for example Barrett Brown, John Kiriakou, et al.

http://www.johnkiriakou.com/books/letters-from-loretto/

Not that terrible compared to other prisons. Compared to freedom, though, not so not-that-terrible.

If I had to choose between a minimum security federal prison and 3-4 long-distance airline flights a week and living out of hotels (a not-unusual travel burden for the kinds of people who make 7 figures a year reliably), I would have absolutely no trouble picking "prison".

Remember: the premise here is that once you do your bit, you're set for life.

I'd add that $100M makes it easier, a felony conviction, especially at the federal level is no joke.

I used to see ads on TV for pardoning services, that implied that they could restore your ability to travel. Does anyone know if those actually work? If they do, then you might really be clear and free with a bit less than $100MM after, say, 5 years.

Any real "pardoning" service at that level is simply a very good, high-priced law firm. And yeah, they do "work." AKA they file the correct legal paperwork and navigate the bureaucracy better than your average citizen.

Federal charges can only be pardoned by the president, are limited in number, and don't expunge your record with very few exceptions. You still need to report the conviction, and still need to ask various states for "forgiveness" to restore your rights.

Personally, I'd stick to the PowerBall for a get rich quick dream.

If I had $104M in the bank I'd put it as the caption on the top of my resume "Spent three years in federal prison..."

You're kind of set for life either way.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com