Broadcom Corp. and the Orange County Sheriff's Department. Two highly visible operations headed until recently by relatively young men of power and charm. The kind of guys who inspired others while basking in their own success and the prospect of more of it to come.
Until the feds came calling, that is.
The two -- Broadcom co-founder Henry Samueli and former Sheriff Mike Carona -- have spent 2008 in the cross-hairs of federal prosecutors.
But the way things look now, you'd much rather be Samueli, and not just because he's a billionaire and Carona isn't.
Last month, I asked a rhetorical question: Do the feds ever rap someone on the knuckles and call it even?
Turns out they do.
They caught Samueli lying to the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2007 and could have asked for five years in prison upon conviction. Instead, this week they pretty much let him skate. Of course, the word "skate" is subjective; Samueli has agreed to five years' probation and a $12-million fine.
To you and me that would be a bit steep, but to the former Broadcom chairman and current owner of the Anaheim Ducks, it's money he can find lying around the house. In agreeing to the plea deal, Samueli also can ask in three years that his probation be terminated.
Mind you, I'm not complaining. I wrote last month that I couldn't pile on a guy who, along with his wife, has given a reported $200 million to various charities. So, when I raised the question of cutting him some slack, it was with his philanthropy in mind -- but also in the context of the nature of his crime.
In other words, we don't give ax murderers a break just because they may have donated to charities.
The feds charged Samueli with misleading SEC staffers about his role in awarding stock options to a group of Broadcom employees.
The government doesn't like it when you lie to them. Just ask multimedia star Martha Stewart, who served five months in prison in 2004-05 for lying to investigators about a stock sale.
So, Samueli got off lightly, and I'm not losing sleep over it. I still say that giving away $200 million to a host of civic causes earns you a break, unless your crime is egregious.
Speaking of ax murders . . .
Carona hasn't been charged with any, but more filings like the one from prosecutors last week and he may not care.
What's that old expression: The wheels of justice grind slowly, but once the feds get their hands on you, they can really squeeze the juice right out of you and make you wish you'd never been born?
