Joseph Stahura avoids jail for all the campaign funds he used for gambling.

[fiulpro]

Former Whiting Mayor Joseph Stahura will not serve time in jail for wire fraud and filing a false income tax return. Judge James T. Moody sentenced Stahura to two years probation, one year home detention and a $7,500 fine at federal court in Hammond on Wednesday

Now what did he do ??
He used all the campaign money to gamble and pay for his credit card bills.

Why did he avoid jail time ??
Since as said by the lawyer that his crimes are not that serious and what he did didn't hurt anyone.

How much money did he use ??
More than $255,000

Does he think that he was addicted ?? NO apparently the mayor thinks it was all normal and he is not addicted to gambling.

The fact is , he didn't win 😂 anything thus I guess he should have realized it sooner that he is wasting all this money. He was extremely lucky that he was not given jail time. He could have easily been behind the bars for years. Had it been a normal person, they would have gotten more serious consequences.

Now was it fair ?!
What do you think ?

Source:
https://calvinayre.com/2021/01/15/business/former-indiana-mayor-who-gambled-away-campaign-funds-avoids-prison/

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[ChrisPop]

Gambling shouldn't be a preoccupation for a mayor no matter in which city. For 4 years he was playing with the campaign money.   Just think about how many other and surely bigger cases are out there. I I believe that the increase of transparency in public institutions is a must to relieve the world from the burden of corruption. Blockchain and the decentralization of power is the obvious way to accomplish this.

It is certainly not fair. The juridical system should be much harsher when it comes to public money.

[Saisher]

That was such a light sentence, he should be bar from running in election because that's corruption, he is lucky to have that kind sentence the amount is very huge, losing that amount of money, it can be considered addiction, he cannot control the mount of money he is losing and it's not even his money.

[crwth]

They probably need to work around the law with that. In essence, you really shouldn’t do that. They should be against the law, and I’m not sure if the funds came from fundraising or the public funds themselves. Probably it has a portion of his donations and just used it for that. I think those people who devote their time to help the former mayor should be the ones who get the funds since he didn’t use them for the right thing.

[ShowOff]

There are times when the law seems unfair to those with power and money. When the culprit is an ordinary person the punishment will look very harsh as if they have done something heavy and we often see rulers and billionaire getting only lighter sentences. This is a fact.

Not so sure that a person who cant control his desire to gamble and spend a lot of money on gambling is not one of those gambler who are addicted. It is surprising that the Mayor has spent so much money on gambling but is not addicted to gambling. Has the attorney defended the wrong ?

[fiulpro]

That was such a light sentence, he should be bar from running in election because that's corruption, he is lucky to have that kind sentence the amount is very huge, losing that amount of money, it can be considered addiction, he cannot control the mount of money he is losing and it's not even his money.

Plus the man is not even aware of it , the first step should always be knowing that you do need help.
I do believe the judge made a very wrong decision.

They probably need to work around the law with that. In essence, you really shouldn’t do that. They should be against the law, and I’m not sure if the funds came from fundraising or the public funds themselves. Probably it has a portion of his donations and just used it for that. I think those people who devote their time to help the former mayor should be the ones who get the funds since he didn’t use them for the right thing.

No this money particularly he did collect from the people though. The guy asked the people to fund for his campaign and then used this money 💰 to gamble. It is indeed the money of the people.


If anyone else would have done something like that I do believe that the punishment would have been really bad. Plus I do believe people here on the forum are much more open towards integrating the gambling with things like : responsible gambling , with things like: finding help. It indeed is a shame to see such cases and the government being unfair so bluntly.

[Vaskiy]

He's lucky to have money to spend on gambling. He would've gambled with free mind, because what he risk on gambling isn't his money. He might've planned to gamble and multiply the holdings and support the common people. What he have spend on gambling is really a big volume, and the funny part is his winning. He has lost almost everything on gambling

[acroman08]

Why did he avoid jail time ??
Since as said by the lawyer that his crimes are not that serious and what he did didn't hurt anyone.

this logic is bullshit and whoever the judge or the lawyer is should be jailed too along with Joseph Stahura. this is a serious crime and should be dealt with accordingly. the crime may not have "hurt" anyone but it is still fraud.

Now was it fair ?!
What do you think ?

obviously not. the only reason why he was spared jail time is probably because of his former position or his connections. this just shows how corrupt the "justice" system is. although I'm glad he didn't win. who knows how much e has stolen already when he was still a mayor.

[Renampun]

a person like this is not worthy of leading a city...
I don't know where the campaign funds came from but if he really likes gambling then he should just play with his income and not his campaign money. *I can't imagine if a gambler becomes the leader in our city then he will definitely corrupt and use the city funds for his gambling

[Natsuu]

Judge Moody decided that Stahura was the first politician he had ever seen that showed remorse for his actions and sentenced him to two years’ probation, along with one year of home detention and a fine of $7,500.

This is not fair, as justice should not look for emotional attachment to decide the weight of the punishment they would give. Given the scale of his action, 2 years probation and 1 year home detention is not enough, and will never be enough as the charges can be up to 23 years behind the bars.

The charges can be acceptable up to half of 23 years, due to his plead of guilty and remorse in his action. Anything other than that is pure under the table deal with the judge.

[7788bitcoin]

Now what did he do ??
He used all the campaign money to gamble and pay for his credit card bills.

Not sure how he raised his campaign money, what ever be the situation it shows the level of responsibility and i wonder what all blunders he committed when he was in power.

Does he think that he was addicted ?? NO apparently the mayor thinks it was all normal and he is not addicted to gambling.

Every addict have this kind of confidence in them, a drug addict will not accept his addiction and so is the case with any form of addiction.

[Lanatsa]

You know on how connection works or do talk about on being a friend or colleague because if you do try to look into those angles then its really indeed a violation

which is indeed a punishable type of offense, it might not really be that heavy compared to other crimes or situations but still a violation and laws should really be applied to it

and would have that fair implementation on what are the consequences behind that. You would really be expecting some sort of exclusion when someone in big ranks or positions
would get involved into will really be treated a bit different that the usual case.

[iv4n]

Crazy! The law is not the same for everyone, I guess! This is the nice example actually, a politician take $255k for gambling, and he walks away almost free from that, and some ordinary guy get a prison sentence for smoking a joint! Both crimes are not that serious and don't hurt anyone, but it's the system! And we wish crypto to be regulated by "that system"?! By that people who do this kind of things?
As you can see by my words, for me this story hides a bigger picture! It's not so hard to see that bigger picture, and it's not so hard to get to one simple conclusion, we need changes... the only hard thing is to start making those changes!

[Janation]

Obviously, thatbis not fair!

If a ordinary people walked out with that huge amount of money and use it for gambling that would be a huge deal for politicians but if they are the ones doing the same thing it will be a different situation as they would cover things up and be clean at the front of millions of people. It is really true that criminals are now sitting in these positions.

[Latviand]

It is really okay if the money that he spent on gambling is his own money, there will be no problem if that's what he did.

But the main problem is that it is not his money and he only did it for his own good. He took advantage of the campaign's funds without even thinking about the consequences that can happen to him.
That's clearly a corrupt scenario where people doesn't deserve that kind of leaders. Gambling should be played with a player's own money not by the other funds.

What a shame that the justice system in many countries are not right and unfair to those who can't afford to pay judges or the law.

[Sanitough]

If you believe the justice system is unfair, then the answer is not fair.

We are not to judge his offense or crime, we have the right person to do that and they have a decision, therefore it should be respected if you believe that the justice system in such place is fair.

The word he does not hurt anyone, I just don't get it but I trust those who make a verdict anyway.

Lessoned learn, don't use the money that you can't afford to use, especially not yours.

[Alucard1]

Seriously, he didn't get into jail because it is not a serious crime but he has stolen a huge amount of money which is bad and we all know that there is a law regarding it, I don't know the reason why he did not get into jail but he is really lucky for that thing. It is not his money that he has spent on such personal things. It only means that there is the unfair treatment for rich and poor people, imagine if a normal person who is not in good names will steal even a small amount of money then he'll get into jail right away unlike what happened to Stahura.

[Mauser]

Wow, he must have gotten pretty lucky here or maybe he did some kind of a deal. A fine for only 7500 USD and Jo jail time? People who get busted with small quantities of drugs get long jail sentences but he is allowed to walk free? I mean he misused funds and broke all rules about objectivity and appropriate use of campaign funds.

[kryptqnick]

I think that prisons don't fulfil the task of reeducating people but are instead worsening one's condition because a lot of violence and dangerous people can be met there. So if a person did not commit a violent crime like raping or killing something, I think it's wise to use other forms of punishment than putting them in prison.
But given the world we actually live in, this decision was clearly very mild. Then again, he returned the money already and will pay a fine, so maybe it's a good deal for society.

[rhomelmabini]

Now was it fair ?!
What do you think ?

It will only be fair if the funds will be given to those who contributed on that campaign funds. For sure there's some kind of alterations when the case was being heated you know how politics go roll around in every sections in the government.