An Open Message to the CyberNET Six

As Jim Horton and Jonathan Mast sit in prison, as Dave Roepke and Geraldine Watson contemplate why they were spared that punishment, and as Krista Watson and Paul Wright await their own judgment, they would do well to consider the following.

On May 11th, 1987 in Washington D.C., the legendary Watergate/Iran-Contra/Pentagon Papers Judge, Gerhard A. Gesell (b. 1910, d. 1993), sentenced Barton Watson to prison for Mail Fraud. These were his final words of advice to Barton:

"I want to say something else to you. You won’t necessarily agree with what I’m going to say but I’m going to say it anyhow. You’re right, the job I have is not the easiest job, this aspect of it, and you realize that. It has been somewhat surprising to me how many people in your similar circumstances, and I’ve seen a good number of so-called white collar criminals, many have actually found that a period away from all the decisions and a period to think over their life is beneficial. I urge you, it’s up to you, not to say, well, the old judge just threw the book at me and feel the world has mistreated you. I think you’ll be well advised to think over where you are and work out the kind of life you’re going to have to follow if you’re going to meet the obligations you’ve indicated to me you want to meet. You’re out of the fast track, you’ve got to stay out of it, and you’re going to have to find a different way to conduct yourself and I hope that you’ll find in prison a chance to think it over."