"White-collar crime isn't without victims. It has impacts on people's lives. People get hurt," Brian Herron, former Minneapolis city council member, said today at an event called "White Collar Crime and Personal Responsibility."

Organized by the University of St. Thomas School of Law, the College of Business and the Center for Ethical Business Cultures, the event had to be moved to downtown Minneapolis' First Baptist Church because of high public interest. About 240 people attended speeches, panel discussions and presentations by Herron and George Kline, a former Minneapolis financier who was convicted of insider trading and other financial crimes.

Kline, whose prison sentence was reduced from 78 to 54 months today, said that "federal resources that are brought to bear on violators are overbearing." He added that the federal prison camp in Duluth, where he currently serves his sentence, has friendly, "outstanding" staff. Reflecting on his charges, he said, "it's bad conduct; it starts as gossip and turns into the pass-out of illegal information."

Kline said he didn't think he was above the law and never needed the money. "There is no explanation for my activity," he said.

Herron, who was convicted of federal bribery charges in 2001 and served a one-year prison sentence, urged the audience to abide by the law and develop moral standards of conduct for everyday life.

"Don't isolate yourself when things become overwhelming and overbearing. You have to be very careful about the choices you make. Always check in with your folks and moral consciousness. When you become depressed and feel alone, you do things that make you feel better about yourself. Once you begin that dance, you can't stop dancing," he said. "It's a painful thing to betray the public trust. For me, it wasn't about power and greed, it was about a lack of self-worth, about not feeling adequate anymore.

"There's restitution and atonement, but forgiveness isn't part of our judicial system. It's not woven into the fabric of our society," he said, adding that continuing to label people as criminals qualifies as "continual punishment." Herron now works for Project Reentry, an organization that helps convicted criminals re-enter the community.

Chris Puto, dean of the College of Business, said the purpose of the "landmark" event was to teach others how to recognize and avoid circumstances that could lead to criminal actions: "Atonement and restitution are very important parts of crime and how to fix it."

Although the life of the professional is frequently stressful, Tom Mengler, dean of the University of St. Thomas School of Law, said, "we have to take personal responsibility for our actions." He added that the event was meant to be "not only informative, but also instructive."

Panelists included Donald Snead, former CFO of Midwest Federal Savings and Loan; Martin Fiterman, a Minneapolis financier; Marvin Goldstein, a former Minneapolis business executive; Jonnie Nix, special agent in charge, criminal investigations, Internal Revenue Service; Rick Ostrom, supervisory special agent, white collar crime squad, FBI; and Jeanne Graupmann, postal inspector at the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Because of pending litigation involving several of the invited speakers, the audience had to write questions on cards, which were reviewed by a lawyer before they were posed.

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