
Ask HN: Being incarcerated for 60 days for a victimless, non violent crime - thrwawayinc
What do I do for my SaaS (collaboration) with no customers yet (should be accepting payments, integrating with Stripe by end of this month)? I have 2 contractors that could fix issues that could come up.
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Red_Tarsius
I've never been to prison, but I read quite a bit about inmate culture and
experiences. A few words of advice:

\- Don't gamble.

\- Don't trust anyone, no matter how friendly they are.

\- Don't accept "free" stuff.

\- Stand up for yourself, no matter the situation.

\- Respect deeply other people, but don't lower your status.

\- Mind. your. business. and expect other inmates to do the same.

Sorry if they sound terribly cliché.

We had motto in the Scouts: _Estote Parati_ , "Be prepared". Read the bio and
experiences of past inmates. You don't want to look scared and in _culture
shock_ mode when you get in. Wolves smell the lack of self-respect.

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Red_Tarsius
Why the downvote? I know I didn't answer his original question, but I was
worried for the OP. If you think I gave bad advice, explain why.

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bradleyland
He's going to jail for 60 days, not prison. Jail is usually a county lockup
half full of people serving time for crimes similar to the OP. Usually, less
than 1 year sentences.

There are certainly groups you should avoid, but the majority of the people in
our local jail are just normal people who got caught with a little marijuana,
or racked up too many DUIs. In other words, they're a lot like the OP. IMO,
there's no need for alarm when going to jail.

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vishaldpatel
In your position, I would: \- Tell my co-founders about what happened. They'd
already know well before the sentencing and we'd already have a plan in place
in-case I did have to serve time. In any case, I'd tell them what happened and
we'd have to figure out how to continue things without me, what will happen in
the meantime and how I'll rejoin the team when I come back. Pretty much
everything would be up for discussion at this early stage.

Tying up loose ends and closing up shop for a couple of months would not be
out of the question.

Best wishes!

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anigbrowl
You should disclose to any partner or investor, it would come up on a
background check anyway and hiding it would look worse than whatever your
offense is, most likely. As for your customers, it's none of their business.
Not a lawyer, this isn't legal advice, pure intuitive response. Hope
everything works out and you get back on track.

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geofffox
I did something remarkably stupid in the past. It's got to be disclosed first
thing, right away.

The past is now forever.

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elwell
Don't launch yet. Or 'unlaunch'.

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thrwawayinc
Can you elaborate?

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davidw
I'd basically park everything until you're out and can really dig in 100%. You
don't want to be going viral or getting publicity or anything like that when
you are unable to handle it. If you can, I suppose I'd bite the bullet and get
it over with as quickly as possible.

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empressplay
You'd be giving your startup the best chance if you're in a position to pore
over analytics and rapidly bring in improvements based on user experiences,
and you can't do that while you're in jail! If you could delay your "media
launch" until you get out that'd probably be the best strategy.

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thrwawayinc
I have about another month and a half to start my sentence. And that's what I
wanted to focus on for efforts for my startup. Initial feedback from
users/visitors are already incorporated. We have used the service ourselves in
developing the product (for about 6 months), and have a bunch of usability
issues already uncovered. I agree that the "media launch" should be delayed.

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ddorian43
Can you tell us what you did? it is a throwaway

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thrwawayinc
Failure to file tax returns.

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smt88
I understand that no single person was harmed specifically, but that's not
100% a victimless crime.

Other people's tax dollars went toward uncovering your failure, investigating
you, filing charges, taking you through the court system, and then
incarcerating you. That probably required far more money than you owed in
taxes in the first place.

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xtrumanx
I don't think you understand the term victimless crime. By your definition no
crime is a victimless crime since all crime costs money to investigate.

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davidw
The 'victim' is society at large, I guess. Imagine a country with 5 people,
where 1 of them doesn't pay their share of taxes. Everyone else is that much
poorer in terms of money available to spend on public projects.

Or: imagine if no one paid their taxes.

Jail time sounds kind of harsh where a fine might do, but we don't know the
details, and that's not what the person is asking about anyway.

~~~
fsk
Taxation is theft!

Imagine a country of 5 people where 3 of them thought they were allowed to
break into the home of the other 2 and take whatever they wanted and spend it
on whatever they wanted.

But back to the OP, "failure to file taxes" usually can be settled for a fine.
It seems unusual for jail. (Even though I know that taxation is theft, I still
do what the crazy people with the guns insist I do.)

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InclinedPlane
Tell everyone who has a stake, including contractors, then push out the launch
and try to pick up the pieces.

~~~
thrwawayinc
I have about a month and a half to self report to start the sentence. I guess,
I was wondering if I can do something productive for the business that could
sustain my 60 day absence.

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gorbachev
Felony or misdemeanor? Makes a BIG difference, especially if your business is
accepting payments.

Sounds like misdemeanor, which should be ok.

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smt88
Seems like you should report ASAP.

What can you do while in jail? I honestly have no idea. Can you email?

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unpaik
Blasphemy?

