FCC takes a bite out of crime

Kim Friends over at CSMG recently pointed out to me that that Judy Green (convicted of fraud in connection with the E-Rate) got a 10-year debarment, plus 3 years of probation, during which "USAC shall review with heightened scrutiny any applications in which Ms. Green is involved during her probation period, and shall conduct automatic annual audits on Ms. Green’s E-Rate activities during each of the first three funding years, upon her re-entry into the E-Rate program." Now that's a real debarment. Of course, Ms. Green will be in jail for 7.5 of those 10 years, but at least the debarment is longer than the sentence, and there is a 3-year probation, too. (In another recent case, the prison sentence was 5 years (plus 3 years of probation), but the debarment is only 3 years.) I'm glad to see stiffer debarments.