In our previous class we spoke about how the profile of the usual white collar criminal is white, middle age, has a high level of education married, has a home and is in a supervisory position. This reminded me of one of my undergrad classes where we spoke about older white males more likely to commit suicide because of the loss of status. Putting those two together if reminded me of former Walls Street trader Michael Marin. Michael Marin was 53 years old, had a wife and children and could not pay the $2,500 a month mortgage on his home. Furthermore, he had $34,000 in back taxes. In 2009, he set his house of fire committing arson and insurance fraud. What made the case weird was that he climbed out the house in scuba gear claiming he needed it to breathe. Marin had intentionally wanted to commit insurance fraud by collecting the fire insurance payout for his burned home. When sent to court in Maricopa County he was found guilty of arson and the sentence could have been 10 to 20 years. However, during the proceeding Marin had swallowed cyanide to escape his fate. We also spoke about a Marxist theory that stated that government creates criminal laws to benefit the people who own the means of economic production. It reminded me of my previous post on the forum which spoke about private prison groups lobbying to create …show more content…
(2015, April 28). How for-profit prisons have become the biggest lobby no one is talking about. The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/04/28/how-for-profit-prisons-have-become-the-biggest-lobby-no-one-is-talking-about/ Fisher, J (2015, May 27). The Michael Marin Poison Pill Case. Retrieved from http://jimfishertruecrime.blogspot.com/2012/07/michael-marin-poison-pill-case-arsonist.html Non-White Prisoners are more Profitable for Private Prisons. (n.d). ALLGOV. Retrieved from