This Editorial wonders if Justice will be meted out to the Enron Execs 
that caused EXPONENTIALLY greater harm than any small-time hoods.

No Need!!! Just think about Charles Keating/Savings and Loan Scandal, 
and Michael Millken/Junk Bond Scandal. Both served some "time" at 
"Country Club" Prisons.The latter subsequently bought respectability, 
position, and even admiration with his ill gotten gains. 
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EDITORIAL
Daily Intelligencer. The Record. Philadelphia PA.
Sunday, December 23, 2001 

WHITE COLLAR MOB 

WILL ENRON EXECS PAY LIKE 'SKINNY JOEY'? 

THE PHILADELPHIA CRIMEsyndicate has taken some serious hits 
in recent days. Boss "Skinny Joey" Merlino is off to prison for 14 years 
on racketeering charges. "Fat Ange" Lutz got nine years. A few of 
Merlino's other associates will be doing time as well.

No one but members of the "family" is shedding any tears for the 
Skinny Joeys and Fat Anges of the world. They did bad things, hurt 
some people, and now they're getting what they deserve. Justice can 
be sweet.

But it can also leave a sour taste. We're thinking about how many 
people, through no fault of their own, have been financially devastated 
by the collapse of Enron Corp., and whether they will ever see justice 
as investigators try to sort out what happened and why.

If Enron's failure was the result of incompetence or, worse, greed at the 
top of the corporate ladder, will anyone ever be held responsible? Will 
criminal activity be uncovered and punished? Will some or any Enron 
employees whose life savings were wiped out when the company tanked 
be compensated?

It's safe to say the Enron debacle has hurt far more people, directly 
and indirectly, than Joey Merlino ever did. Joey, because of his mob 
connections, was treated as a bad guy in a nice suit who engaged in 
a dirty business. 

Can we expect Enron executives, if found to be bad guys in nice suits 
who engaged in a dirty business, to get the same treatment as Merlino 
and his buddies? Or are we naive to think that some white-collar crooks, 
and the government regulators who may have turned a blind eye to what 
was happening, might spend hard time in prison for all the trouble they 
either caused or failed to prevent?

All things considered, Joey Merlino and his ilk are small-time hoods 
who expend as much effort cheating and killing each other as they do 
preying on innocent people. Enron represents one of the largest corporate 
collapses in U.S. history. The ramifications are being felt worldwide, by 
thousands of individuals and countless businesses.

What happened at Enron is a crime of huge proportions. We just hope 
there's enough justice to take care of it all.