This is an extraordinary story,\u201d <\/strong>Robert Jarvis, a professor at Florida\u2019s Nova Southeastern University\u2019s Shepard College of Law, told Casino.org<\/em>. \u201cAlthough one often reads about employees embezzling money from their employers to feed their gambling habits, I cannot remember the last time I read about a law enforcement official, let alone an FBI agent, committing such an act.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nThere is also a controversy over the relative shortness of the sentence and the request to spend it in a residence rather than a correctional facility.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn the one hand, it seems necessary to recognize the extra harm done when people who are given a public trust commit a crime,\u201d Frank Rudy Cooper, director, Program on Race, Gender & Policing at UNLV\u2019s William S. Boyd School of Law, told Casino.org<\/em>. \u201cOn the other hand, the defendant seems to have stated a basis for mercy.<\/p>\n“It would be nice if everyone got as much attention paid to their mitigating factors as Mr. Carpenter did.\u00a0 I do not believe we should over-incarcerate law enforcement officers just because we do so to everyday civilians, but I would understand if some people thought Carpenter got more of a benefit of the doubt than many people.”<\/p>\n
Cooper acknowledged it is a \u201cdifficult\u201d call for Navarro. He called her \u201cintelligent and principled.\u201d Within 90 days, she will announce whether Carpenter can spend the sentence at his residence or in a correctional facility.<\/p>\n
Jarvis said he is not surprised at the 90-day sentence. He noted that Carpenter had no criminal record, this was his first offense, and he is a veteran. (He served in the US Army\u2019s 82nd<\/sup> Airborne Division in Iraq.)<\/p>\nCarpenter pled guilty to a misdemeanor. This can led to probation and restitution rather than prison time, Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
Home Confinement Makes Sense<\/h2>\n Jarvis confirmed that home confinement is \u201cvery controversial among the public,\u201d but is, of course, more comfortable for the convict.<\/p>\nFrank Rudy Cooper, a UNLV law professor, pictured above. He recognizes the sentencing of the defendant in the case is challenging for the judge. (Image: UNLV)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nIt can provides the wider community benefits over prison incarceration in many cases. For instance, housing prisoners in a facility is very expensive and can lead to repeat offenders, Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
Home confinement also poses less risk of spreading communicable diseases such as COVID-19 and monkeypox than being in one\u2019s residence.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a former FBI agent, he would be an immediate target in prison and would have to be kept in solitary confinement, which would be an excessive punishment for a misdemeanor,\u201d Jarvis added.<\/p>\n
Questioned PTSD<\/h2>\n But even apparently favoring the shorter sentence and serving it at home, Jarvis doubts Carpenter\u2019s embezzlement of the government money had anything to do with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as his defense lawyer claimed.<\/p>\n
The FBI would have weeded Carpenter out if it had any concerns about his psychological make-up,\u201d <\/strong>Jarvis said. \u201cPTSD is a serious condition and many veterans do not get the help they need, but to draw a link between it and what Carpenter did strikes me as something that would be very hard to prove.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\nSince anyone can have a gambling addiction, Jarvis asked what precautions, if any, the FBI took to avoid this situation after giving four agents a large sum of money: $135,000. Among other things, they ordered many drinks at The Cosmopolitan<\/a> using federal money.<\/p>\n“Given what happened, and the fact that Carpenter was able to consume large amounts of alcohol with apparently no oversight, the FBI needs to have a serious look at its protocols,\u201d Jarvis said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The circumstances around an FBI agent allegedly using $13.5K in federal money to gamble at the Bellagio concerns two leading law professors. The case also comes as the FBI faces scrutiny for the unprecedented search of former President Donald Trump\u2019s Florida residence. This week, US District Court Judge Gloria Navarro sentenced Scott Carpenter, 40, of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":227505,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[13766,82393,23,81928],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
FBI Agent Using Public Money to Gamble in Vegas Troubles Law Profs<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n