NCJ Number
139709
Journal
Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1992) Pages: 547-574
Date Published
1992
Length
28 pages
Annotation
The severity of sentences meted out to California Medicaid (Medi-Cal) offenders versus non-white collar offenders was analyzed using quantitative data collected from Medi-Cal case files, the California Bureau of Criminal Statistics database for grand theft arrestees, and interviews with Medi-Cal enforcement personnel.
Abstract
The findings from the multivariate analysis indicated that Medi-Cal offenders enjoyed a substantial advantage over non-white collar offenders in the first phase of sentencing. While 77 percent of the grand theft defendants received jail sentences and 2 percent received prison sentences, only 31 percent of the Medi- Cal sample went to jail and 7 percent to prison. There was some evidence that prosecutors held traditional views that health care professionals should not be sentenced for first-time property offenses. However, once offenders were sentenced to incarceration, the benefits of white-collar status faded. Furthermore, the sanctioning disparity between white-collar and non-white collar offenders diminished when regulatory and administrative sanctions were included in the analysis. 6 tables and 29 references