Who was the richest, most powerful American to actually go to prison?

[yurbud]

Exclude drug dealers, mafia bosses, and celebrities.

This isn't a riddle. I'd really like to know.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

1. Maybe Michael Milkin? eom

[yurbud]

4. is he old money or new? If old, that would be a good one.

[Gothmog]

9. New Money

Miliken invented the junk bond market for Drexel Burnham

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

10. I believe he was new money.

Here's the link to him in Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Milkin

[closeupready]

2. What's his name,

Haldeman?

[Richard Steele]

3. John Delorean?

[caledesi]

5. Leona Helmsley? nt

[TechBear_Seattle]

6. Wasn't Lay in prison for a while?

I'm guessing someone from Enron. Or maybe Delay or Abramhoff.

[yurbud]

15. was awaiting sentencing or something when he "died"

[JackBeck]

7. How about Leona Helmsley?

[shain from kane]

8. Johnny Cash. n/t

[yurbud]

14. celeb, new money

[shain from kane]

18. Not a celebrity, he was genuine. Actually, I don't think he was in prison (maybe, jail),

just visiting.

[yurbud]

21. he was in jail for drugs once. I'm looking for a member of the elite

if any.

It's no surprise that an artist, athlete, or actor could end up in prison, but how about the son of someone who actually pulls the levers in the country, the guys who decide when we go to war, and which guy gets to be president?

[AngryAmish]

23. He never went to prison other to play a concert.

[tabasco]

27. Johnny Cash was never in prison except to perform. n/t

[QuestionAll...]

34. contrary to popular belief... Cash was never in prison...

so some say.

[shain from kane]

40. Actually, my #8 posting was originally meant to be a joke. Of course,

it was an urban legend that Cash served prison time. However, I'm certain that Merle Haggard was in prison, when he was younger, and his story is sometimes confused with Johnny Cash's life.
The joke was that he was in prison at least twice, to record two live albums ... At Folsom Prison and At San Quentin. He surely wasn't wealthy when he recorded those albums, although I believe that he died a rich man, with an estimated wealth, I think that I read, of 200-300 million dollars. I am going back on the internet to see whether I can find a further reference.

[ThomWV]

11. Al Capone

[ThomWV]

12. Wasn't Myer Lasnky Locked Up For A While?

[yurbud]

17. I'm looking for an establishment type

[rockymountaindem]

26. Not according to what I've read n.t.

[Mist]

13. Harry Thaw? (for the murder of Sanford White). nt

[roguenkatz]

16. That WOULD have been

Kenny-boy if he hadn't had that pesky "heart attack."

[LordLovesAWorkingMan]

19. Not even close.

Either Milken or Boesky. Those guys were worth hundreds of millions even AFTER they got out of prison.

[hughee99]

20. A few names

John E. Dupont killed an olympic wrestler, Ivan Boesky (insider trading), Charles Keating (S&L), and Ian Schrager (tax evasion, I think) come to mind.

I think Schrager built most of his fortune after getting out of prison with his hotels, though.

[hang a left]

28. The Kennedy

who was found guilty of murdering the 15 year old girl when he was a teen?

That is old money, isn't it?

[closeupready]

31. No, old money is OLD.

like pre-War. The civil one. :D

[hughee99]

42. The Duponts are old money.

[2bfree]

22. Martha.

:)

[earth mom]

30. Martha...which was unjust...

she went to prison for what a man would not have to do time for. :grr:

[Donald Ian Rankin]

24. Jefferson Davis, perhaps?

Imprisoned for two years, although never charged?

[yurbud]

44. rich?

[Bad Santa]

25. Russian billionaire oligarch in Siberian labor camp

This is the richest guy I know of that's currently in prison...

"The Siberian Life of an Oligarch

As RussiaBlog has previously reported, the former richest man in Russia, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, now resides in Siberia, in a prison colony close to the Chinese border. Khodorkovsky’s wife and mother visited him just a few weeks ago. At that time, Khodorkovsky had been punished by solitary confinement twice; once for leaving his workspace without permission to find a mechanic to fix his sewing machine, and the second time for having papers from the Ministry of Justice. These documents describe the proper procedures for imprisoning a Russian citizen. The prison administration decided Khodorkovsky should not have these documents and sent him to solitary confinement again.

When Khodorkovsky was settling into his new residence he had a smile on his face. Khodorkovsky thought that he would be doing cushy research and earn his PhD while serving out his sentence. All these dreams have been ruthlessly crushed. All the mail Khodorkovsky has received and the letters he tried to send out have been confiscated and destroyed by the prison administration. The warden had decided that the contents of his papers were “inappropriate”. Also, research work is not allowed at this particular penal colony. Sewing and making cardboard boxes are the only working options. So far Khodorkovsky has stuck with sewing, but he isn’t any good at it, so he is thinking about carton box-making as his next career.

Russian prisoners are supposed to wake up at 6:30 am, eat breakfast, work 8 am until 5 pm, go through security procedures, have dinner and then enjoy the “free time” between 8 pm and 10 pm. The inmates get paid about $10 a month. To save electricity, the lights are usually dimmed so it’s hard to read, and the only well-lit rooms are in the common areas, where the prisoners can sometimes watch TV. These common rooms are noisy and the few available TV sets are used by the prisoners much younger than Khodorkovsky; they prefer action movies and TV series over news and cultural programming...."

http://www.russiablog.org/2006/03/siberian_life_of_an_oligarch.html

[kwassa]

29. Jeffrey Skilling?

[trumad]

32. Jail

[shain from kane]

35. Due to Gatesgate. Would have certainly changed the course of history

if he had remained in jail for any length of time/

[Mabus]

33. John E. DuPont

John du Pont Found Guilty, Mentally Ill

By Debbie Goldberg
Special to the Washington Post
Wednesday, February 26, 1997; Page A01

Multimillionaire John E. du Pont was convicted today of murdering an Olympic wrestler, but jurors ruled that he was mentally ill, sparing du Pont a possible life sentence.

After seven days of deliberation, the jury found du Pont guilty of third-degree murder, or murder without premeditated intent. The compromise verdict means du Pont may receive psychiatric treatment but would serve his entire sentence -- as much as 40 years -- in a prison or mental hospital.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/aron/dupont022697.htm

[Richard Steele]

36. That's gotta be #1 right there!

Can't believe I forgot that one.

[Mabus]

37. I see that hang a left mentioned him earlier

but, yeah, as soon as I saw that question the first name that popped in my mind was DuPont. As for his influence, he was the main benefactor of amateur wrestling in the US.

[Richard Steele]

38. And USA "money" doesn't get much OLDER than the DuPont family. nm

[yurbud]

43. good one! almost got off with couseling though.

[flvegan]

39. Bill Gates

Traffic violation arrest. Don't know about "prison" time spent as a result, though.

[Xithras]

41. But he wasn't all that rich at the time.

In 1977 Microsoft had about 10 employees and could barely pay its bills. Gates didn't begin to build his wealth until the 80's