Stealing College?
October 16th, 2006Going the Criminal Route to Pay for School
A piece in the October 16, 2006 online edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette relates the story of a woman who forged a bankruptcy court judge’s signature in order to obtain federal student loans to continue her university studies. Seems she needed to prove she had arranged re-payment of her debts in order to get the loans and in order to do that, she needed the judge’s signature. Since her case was still pending at the time the signature was needed, she took matters into her own hands.
She got caught and is now charged with a felony carrying a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. She’s thrown herself on the mercy of the court and among other blatherings, stated she “didn’t want to owe the school money.”
Ok, so the lady has 4 kids and is separated from her husband. Still, she’s not so very different from the millions of other college students trying to make it through school. Yes, college is expensive and all we hear lately is how much tuition has increased while aid has decreased. However, this sense of entitlement is sickening.
Funny how we don’t want the government to tell us to buckle up or reduce the fat in our McDonald’s fries but the minute we need something, who do we run to? And if it’s not enough? Well, some of us just curse the government and some of us commit fraudulent acts.
Anybody and everybody who has the inclination can go to college in the United States. There are enough scholarship, grant and loan programs to see us through. Ok, so maybe we’ll owe $25,000 by the time we’ve graduated or maybe we’ll have to get a second job or get a job. Perhaps we’ll have to work full-time and go to school part-time maybe we’ll have to work one semester and go to school the next semester but anyone can go to school without resorting to fraud!
It will indeed be a tragedy if they throw the book at this lady and give her anywhere near the maximum. Even convicting her of a felony will greatly reduce the vocational choices she’ll have and getting saddled with a tenth of a $250,000 fine will cost her more than the student loan she didn’t want to bother with in the first place. That doesn’t even take into account the fact that she is facing a prison sentence.
