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

[slaman29]

I guess he's got a good lawyer then. To me, it doesn't matter what he used the money for, it's still a crime, if he used the money for illegal purposes, it's a separate crime and therefore separate charges. Circumstances don't help, he wasn't desperate nor was he in need but I find it weird they don't say he was addicted as that would actually help his case right?

[Fundamentals Of]

Whether the money went to the casinos or to the actual campaign made no difference at all. It was the same money burned for nonsense anyway.

But my question was, was that act not tantamount to stealing? I am no expert in election laws of Joseph Stahura's place but that money wasn't for him personally, right? So was using an amount not intended for personal use to pay for personal bills and gambling expenses not stealing?

[yazher]

This Mayor is nothing compared to some other government officials of our country who support drugs, illegal loggings, Smuggled Cigarettes, and other illegal stuff but still sitting on their chairs unharmed. No one could deny that especially when you living here, It's easy for others to say that leaders like this have no right to become leaders or to get anything from people's tax but what can we do? these people already own the land equivalent half of the city? The moment they wrote those people's names in the voting paper that's when the countdown of our doomsday. Good thing for those who don't have such kind of leaders. If you are living in the city with a just leader you need to follow and support your true leaders if ever there comes a time to give you an option to choose him again, don't hesitate to write their names for the second time.

[robelneo]

He got that sentence because of the judge, who see things differently

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,

I don't think that's fair and could become a bad precedent, for those who will do similar offense, the prosecutors can make an appeal for this kind of decision, it's one of the decisions that makes people wonder if the judge was bribed.

[ethereumhunter]

I do not know if that is fair or not, but as former officials, he still has the power to avoid the jail, even if he makes a crime. He can contact his friends and tell them that he is not guilty, and I am sure he can do that easily. But if that happens to a normal person, he will get in jail and be taken to rehabilitation because he uses too big money in gambling. That is life, and I am sure that is happening in many places.

[Cling18]

That sentence was too light for him to learn his lessons and I'm sure that he'll still be able to do the same thing in the future. If he couldn't discipline himself in using the funds that he doesn't own, how much more if he had won the position? I guess his power and position are also the reasons why the judge made that kind of decision which is not really fair for ordinary people.

[Hydrogen]

I used to be profitable gambling on sports. It was a consistent money maker for me.

Around 2018 many sportsbooks were bought out by wallstreet investment firms who sought to centralize and consolidate the industry. Things began to change noticeably.

Its much harder to consistently win gambling on sports in 2020 and 2021 than it was in 2018 and 2019.

There are more questionable and shady referee and judging calls. Matchmaking and organizational difficulty is much improved at leveraging insider info that casual gamblers have no access to.

I think many recognize the sports gambling industry is changing but don't know the cause behind it.  

Wall Street Wades Into Sports Gambling as Legalization Spreads

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-22/wall-street-is-wading-into-sports-gambling

[Darker45]

Of course, this is unfair, very unfair. But the world's unfair. Especially among dealings of men, fairness is really just a concept rather than a real-world standard.

If only this man were not a former mayor, this man would have landed straight to jail right away. I can't speak much of the extent to which justice is served in other places, but I have probably enough idea that there is indeed injustice and unfairness in almost all parts of the globe.

In my country, politicians stealing billions are not rotting in jail but illiterate individuals who are involved in the pettiest of crimes are even meeting death inside prisons.

[newwest]

Not sure how did they said it dint hurt anybody. Because those amounts are not his personal funds, its public who would have contributed and when they knew about it in the end for them it was waste contributing to it. Instead they could have gamble themselves or did what they want to with their money instead he is gambling on their funds. So, this should be resulting in some action.

[shoreno]

it wasnt fair of course but what can we do ? that is how justice served if you have money  . rich people can easily get away with the crimes that they make but if that happens fo poor people the person can be convicted easily  .

 his lawyer is clearly defending him because that is his lawyer and didnt he won even a few bets for those money that he gambled ? betting all those money in a single or double bet would also be unbelievable because thats huge . the truth is he win some but he is only addicted and he dont know how to stop so he loose all

[iamsheikhadil]

Lol, it's funny but are campaign fund raisers obligated to use the money as they collect it for? I think it's more like a donation so that's the reason why he was spared else there would have been financial fraud charges against him and he would have needed to pay back all lost money. Even if he avoids jail, he will still have mental punishment after losing such a big amount  , he was obviously addicted and am sure he will still gamble in future xD

[bitbollo]

sometime also the law have some limit... probably he was not dumb at all since he can avoid prison just with a good lawyer.
but a person that make some many bet without being a millionaire clear it represents an issue for the whole society if held any public charge.
ok for him this can't be an addiction, but it's of course out of a normal limit of playing a superball bet...

[Ucy]

I think you judge the case based on the level of risk he exposed himself and others to with the money. Almost everyone (apart from few people) expose his/herself to big risk with the kind of things he/she spends money on. The main problem is if it's habitual and intentionally. Those who do it intentionally or habitually will likely receive more "punishment" in just society(and helped).  Those who do it unintentionally and occasionally(or even habitually) could be given light "punishment" and helped too.

I believe it's good for everyone to be responsible adults so that they don't have too much problems in life, and others don't get "infected" and start being reckless.

[swogerino]

I think it is not fair spending 255.000 Us dollar public funds and get away with one year home probation and a 7500 Us dollar fine.It looks like the judge didn’t sentence him to jail because of his status as mayor.If the same judge would have been judging the same identical case with a normal person I am sure he would have asked a few years behind the bars.

[Natsuu]

I think it is not fair spending 255.000 Us dollar public funds and get away with one year home probation and a 7500 Us dollar fine.It looks like the judge didn’t sentence him to jail because of his status as mayor.If the same judge would have been judging the same identical case with a normal person I am sure he would have asked a few years behind the bars.

He spend the campaign fund, not the public funds. In which nobody still knows where and how he gets it. The point of the article is on how did they sentenced the accused when there are still more to be investigated especially that he is a public servant.

Yeah its good that he quit and do remorse, but the investigation is really in need for this as the people must know where did the campaign fund came from.

[Lanatsa]

I think it is not fair spending 255.000 Us dollar public funds and get away with one year home probation and a 7500 Us dollar fine.It looks like the judge didn’t sentence him to jail because of his status as mayor.If the same judge would have been judging the same identical case with a normal person I am sure he would have asked a few years behind the bars.

He spend the campaign fund, not the public funds. In which nobody still knows where and how he gets it. The point of the article is on how did they sentenced the accused when there are still more to be investigated especially that he is a public servant.

Yeah its good that he quit and do remorse, but the investigation is really in need for this as the people must know where did the campaign fund came from.

This will explain about those campaign funds came from.

https://scienceexchange.caltech.edu/topics/voting-elections/campaign-funding-finance-explained
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campaign_finance

Its really very unfair that he didn't really face up some jail time on committing this mistake.It will all vary on the actual source of those campaign
funds if they would push through on giving some legal actions or would simply just forgive him to make the sentence will be lighter.

[AicecreaME]

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 was it fair ?!
What do you think ?

First, it is not fair, but I'm not surprise since the law is always bendable when we're talking about Political people or wealthy people, and the other way around when it comes to normal people. Second and last, I think he and his attorney are both crazy, because I don't see any reason to protect those people who clearly did something wrong but still there is a lot of lawyers who wants money than to prevail justice.

What I saw here is that before he runs for a Mayor candidacy, he first do stuff that will give fragrance to his name so that the people in their place will vote for him. Unfortunately, turns out he couldn't hide his true color anymore.

[john_nautica]

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 was it fair ?!
What do you think ?

First, it is not fair, but I'm not surprise since the law is always bendable when we're talking about Political people or wealthy people, and the other way around when it comes to normal people. Second and last, I think he and his attorney are both crazy, because I don't see any reason to protect those people who clearly did something wrong but still there is a lot of lawyers who wants money than to prevail justice.

What I saw here is that before he runs for a Mayor candidacy, he first do stuff that will give fragrance to his name so that the people in their place will vote for him. Unfortunately, turns out he couldn't hide his true color anymore.

You’re right. Politicians and many individuals under the upper class of the society are given so much privilege that is really incomparable to a what an ordinary citizen would have. And to mention that they easily get out of their troubles through connections and money. But with this, being a public figure and with the people’s money getting involved with their dishonorable deeds, things should be taken this lightly. The only good thing is he didn’t win, at least he won’t be able to do more than what he did.

[dothebeats]

If you have the power, the money, and the connections, cases like this would be nothing against you, and justice will always favor your side no matter how big your liabilities are. In this case, he is a former mayor, and it seems that the judge is on his side from the get go. Probation and house arrest is not a big deal, especially if all the comforts are still on your side while the ones you victimized will not be reimbursed on what they lost. It is unfair of a judgment IMO, though if that's the ruling of the courts, one can only comment on the outcome but won't change it.

[imstillthebest]

i did a quick search about campaign funds in election if what is its uses and found out that it cant be use for personal but it can be handed out to the needy  . joseph did a violation and must pay for his actions that he made inside the jail .
we dont need a mayor like this .
he was only a mayor and he did this already but if he was already in a position higher than this , he could do more serious violations and he can manipulate everything easily using the money that and the power that he temporarily have .