Long prison terms are usually associated with violent crimes (rape, murder, armed robbery).  However, the Federal Sentencing Guidelines can put a first-time, non-violent offender behind bars for the remainder of their life.  Ponzi schemes such as those run by Bernard Madoff (150 years in prison) and Allen Stanford (110 years in prison) are notable cases where the public hardly batted an eye at those prison terms due to the harm done (billions lost) to so many people (thousands) over a long period of time (decades).  However, the threshold that will get you a life sentence is much lower than ... Read More