White-Collar Crime Manual Author Sentenced To 10 More Years For Fraud
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A 36-year-old Philadelphia man who wrote a "how-to" book on white collar crime while serving a 12-year sentence for armed robbery has been sentenced to a new, long prison sentence for fraud.
Defendant Phillip Weems has been sentenced to ten years in prison for a check-cashing scheme, despite his claim in his 56-page "Crime Pays" manuscript that he holds the highest degree in criminology.
"He authors a manuscript in which he indicates it's volume one of multiple volumes," says federal prosecutor Ashley Lunkenhiemer, "and actually provides a special preview of volume two, in which he suggests manners in which to conduct white-collar schemes and then, in the dedication and introduction to the manual, indicates the reason to do that is because there are no or less consequences for such conduct."
Federal judge Juan Sanchez disagreed. "The time he had in prison was used to come up with ideas and schemes on how to commit white collar crime," the judge noted.
Judge Sanchez says Weems, motivated by greed and a sense of entitlement, is a continuing threat and the evidence suggests he cannot be rehabilitated.
