Full transcript of JF sentencing now available, including his statement to the court:
THE DEFENDANT: Today I stand before you, your Honor,
in a situation in which there is no way to express in my words
the regret at how sorry I am and how -- and that I have hurt so
many people. Before all this happened I never could have
imagined I would do the things that I have done, and it's been
a sobering realization coming to terms with the failings in my
own character, the failings that allowed me to do the wrong
that I've done.
Nothing I say today is an excuse for what I did. To
the investors who lost money, I am truly sorry and I hope that
I am able to right my wrongs in some way. I have violated a
trust bestowed upon me. For other victims that were hurt, I am
also sorry. For these things I am prepared to pay my debt.
To those who love me and cared about me, I'm sorry I
let you down, disappointed you and especially any hurt I have
caused.
And to my parents, particularly, not a day goes by I
don't wish there was something I could do to make you suffer
less will all of this. You've always been there, and I'm sorry
not only to let you down but cause so much pain.
This is not the person I set out to be in life. From
as early as I can remember, my parents always taught me right
from wrong and that there were consequences for doing wrong. I
learned to do the right thing, and I was surrounded by people
that supported making the right choices.
From an early age I was very involved with my church.
In fact, along with another family and our church the family
ran a halfway house helping people put their lives together. I
tried to help and set up to lead a good life. Up until I
joined Locateplus I had a spotless record. I think, at most, I
had maybe one speeding ticket maybe at one time in my life, and
despite having been offered and pressured by peers while
growing up, I refused to try any drugs. In fact, I never
touched any alcohol until I was of a legal age and drank
infrequently until this time in my life.
I had planned and set out on a path to be successful
in a law-abiding way. I saw how my parents had struggled
financially while growing up and it motivated me to want to do
well enough so that some day I would be able to help them out.
I put myself through college taking full-time course load while
working 50 hours a week.
It was at this time I married a woman that I met in my
teens. We met working at a fast food restaurant. After
graduation we both started out on our career paths. This
eventually led us to Boston, where we both earned graduate
degrees and both had progressively increased roles of
responsibility. For all intents and purposes, we were living
out the path of a good life.
I took my first job after graduate school, and after
about a year and a half I found myself unemployed when the
company was sold. This is when, much to my regret today, I was
introduced to Locateplus. For all its initial appearances, it
looked like a great opportunity. It had an exciting
Internet-based product, an impressive customer base with law
enforcement and what seemed like experienced management, but as
it turns out, I entered what became my perfect storm. I found
myself surrounded by individuals that didn't support making the
right choices. In fact, I was surrounded by people who
encouraged making bad decisions in many aspects of my life, and
I went along with it. I compare it much to a frat house
environment among many of the people there. To call what
happened here the biggest and worst ordeal in my life would be
such an understatement.
My marriage of 11 years came to an end shortly after
joining, drinking began to take over, and I lost a sense of who
I was. The only sense of praise or approval that seemed to
reach me was the feedback that I could be effective at helping
the business. I found myself justifying a small compromise
that led to justifying a bigger compromise that led to another
and another until I was buried in my bad decisions. It makes
me sick to think of how I gained comfort and a sense of
fulfillment at that time from things like driving a Hummer or
calling myself an executive.
As time went on and I got deeper and deeper in, I felt
the only way out was to ride out the storm and hope that
somehow in the future I could fix it. When I was in the
situation I couldn't see the forest for the trees, but when it
was laid out in display in this case for the world to see it
was clear there was never any justification. It makes me sick
to look back and think about how warped my perceptions were of
myself, others, my choices and conduct. This is not an excuse
for my behavior, because there is no excuse. It was
inexcusable. I only tell this to explain the insight I have
gained on my personal journey to understand how I came to fail.
I lost sight of what it really meant to lead a good life,
something I seemed to know naturally early in life, which I've
worked to regain the past years. I'm not at all implying that
I have ever lived the perfect life, but before joining
Locateplus I would have never even imagined contemplating and
engaging in the events that happened here, and I know I will
never let anything like this happen again.
When I became aware of the investigation, I chose to
meet the Government agents in mid-2007. I met with them on
five different days over a few months' time. It wasn't easy,
but as it went on it was somewhat of a relief to start getting
things off my chest, but by then the bad choices and conduct
had led to other bad choices and conduct. Talking about it
started making me feel a little like my old self, however, a
lot of time kept passing without any resolution or conclusion,
and I just couldn't understand why. My life seemed to be
largely on hold.
As the cloud of this impending prosecution loomed, I
went through some very dark times personally, experienced bouts
of depression, thoughts of suicide. It was only when I let
control over my situation go that I was able to work to
understand and try to move on. It was at this time in 2010
that I was introduced to someone who became my sponsor and gave
me an opportunity for work. I started a low-level position
handling phone calls and doing some clerical work. I also
entered therapy, where I started to understand more about the
values at the times I felt better about myself and the
circumstances that led to my choices. I'm once again
surrounding myself with good people who support making good
choices, and I am so far from the person I was when I worked at
Locateplus. Not a day goes by that I don't wish I could go
back and change what I did. I know now that if I am ever faced
with another situation like Locateplus I will not continue to
associate with or be influenced into making bad decisions.
At trial, the picture drawn of me, which
understandably colors the views of me, was constructed from a
set of events representing the most horrible decisions I've
ever made in my life, but those events don't capture all or
even most of who I am. Unfortunately, but understandably, this
is the only view prosecutors had of me. The prosecutors at
trial never had a chance to meet me or get to know me other
than in the courtroom, and for me when it came to any plea
negotiations it was overwhelming to have to contemplate the
loss of my liberty in terms of what seemed like one-dimensional
negotiations of numbers without any consideration of so many
other things about me, especially in light of so much
excruciating personal darkness I had gone through waiting for a
resolution.
When I was presented with the potential package deal
last spring, I chose not to accept being sentenced with my
co-defendant as a unit. I chose not to accept what seemed to
be a sentence predetermined by prosecutors who never really met
me. The main reason I couldn't accept the package deal is I
wanted to be considered fully as an individual with all
relevant factors and have the Court determine the most
important resolution of events in my life. I do admit, once I
made the decision to go to trial, I had hoped I would be
acquitted of some or all of the charges, and for that I
apologize for putting any burden on the Court.
While I have come to terms in so many ways with what
has led me here, not a single day in the nearly six years since
2007 have I been free of the realization that consequences are
still waiting. I can assure your Honor that I will never make
choices or engage in conduct contrary to my good values again.
I have prepared myself for the punishment the Court
deems appropriate. In fact, I am more concerned about the
effect on those who care about me than I am about myself. I
have caused my family and others so much pain I cannot describe
how committed I am to making something good come from all of
this. I am truly sorry. I promise your Honor that any mercy
will be returned with only good going forward.
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