Imminent Catastrophe
for you Twitterers out there, Charlie Engle is tweeting from prison, they are pretty interesting and sometimes funny. @charlieengle
I don't know much about what he did to end up there but if you can not pay taxes and still end up as Secretary of the Treasury, well, what a country!
"Able to function despite imminent catastrophe"
"To obtain the air that angels breathe you must come to Tahoe"--Mark Twain
"The most common question from potential entrants is 'I do not know if I can do this' to which I usually answer, 'that's the whole point'.--Paul Charteris, Tarawera Ultramarathon RD.
√ Javelina Jundred Jalloween 2015
Cruel Jewel 50 mile May 2016
Western States 100 June 2016
Interestingly (to me), at first he was also facebook status-ing from prison for a few days. Either I'm filtering this out, or he gave that aspect up.
Anyway, I have very mixed emotions about Charlie.
(side note, the previous secretary of the treasury was Henry Paulson. He is, apparently, related to ape banana wacky shit crazy maniac, Neil Paulson, aka bandito aka nice guy. For real)
Good Bad & The Monkey
Cripes. I just chipped a tooth.
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
Ultramarathoner gets 21 months for mortgage fraudBy Tim McGloneThe Virginian-PilotJanuary 11, 2011Ultramarathon runner Charlie Engle ran his last foot race Sunday forat least 21 months.U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Friedman on Monday sentenced Engle to 21months in federal prison after a jury in the fall found Engle guiltyof 12 counts of bank, mail and wire fraud in an Eastern Shore realestate scam.Citing Engle's clean record and 18 years of sobriety and charitablework, the judge granted his request for leniency. A federal prosecutorwalked into court seeking a prison term more than double what Englegot, claiming his deceit even after his arrest and his perjury attrial warranted a harsh penalty.Afterward, Engle praised the judge, saying he knew he would receive afair sentence."Obviously, I would prefer not to be in this situation at all," hesaid. "Considering the worst possible scenario, I'm grateful."Engle, surrounded by more than 40 friends and family members, receivedhugs as he left court. The judge allowed Engle to turn himself in to adesignated federal prison by Feb. 14.Engle, 48, of Greensboro, N.C., gained some notoriety in the pastdecade for his fundraising run across the Sahara Desert and a similareffort to run across America. He's also a motivational speaker. OnSunday, Engle met supporters in his hometown for a 5K run.Friends, relatives and fellow marathoners filed around 120 letters ofsupport with the court. Some letter writers said they hadn't even metEngle but were inspired by his athletics and motivational speeches.The judge cited those letters as well, saying he has never received somany in one case. And it was also the first case the judge said he hadthat went viral, with websites and blogs set up to support Engle.Engle also gave a long speech to the judge, noting that he had been"foolish enough to think I can change the world." While he did notaddress the charges the jury convicted him of, he said at times he"can be careless.""I can say with confidence that I can turn negatives into positives,"he told the judge. "I have no doubt I will make the best of this."A jury in October found Engle guilty of 12 felonies, finding that hebilked banks out of $150,000 in an Eastern Shore mortgage fraudscheme.Evidence showed that Engle obtained $1.055 million from four loans,causing $404,000 in alleged losses to the banks after Engle stoppedmaking payments and the homes in Cape Charles were foreclosed on.Prosecutors have said that Engle used proceeds from the fraud to fundhis lifestyle around the time of his 4,300-mile run across the Saharafour years ago. Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Kosky said Engle neededmoney for the 111-day run. The run was documented in "Running theSahara," narrated by film star Matt Damon.Kosky initially pushed for a sentence between four and five years inprison, citing bank losses of $404,000. But after hearing argumentsMonday, the judge lowered the loss amount to $265,500, which alsolowered the recommended federal guideline sentence from a maximum of57 months to a maximum of 46 months.Friedman then went even lower but denied Engle's request for asentence of probation."He has to be punished for what he did," Friedman said. "I believe heknew what he was doing was wrong."Engle argued at trial that he was duped by unscrupulous mortgagebrokers and real estate agents, some of whom he said forged hissignature and made up his inflated income numbers to get the loans.But Kosky presented undercover tape recordings where Engle is heardsaying of mortgage fraud that "everyone was doing it." Then afterbeing arrested, Engle told Internal Revenue Service agents that heknew what he did was part of the nationwide mortgage crisis that ledto the recession. Engle denies ever saying that.Since his arrest, Engle has been a prolific writer on the Internet, athis website, www.charlieengle.com and on Facebook, where he has justunder 5,000 friends."I convince myself that this is just another adventure," he wrote in arecent blog. "But I wonder if I am delusional. Maybe I am just denyingthe catastrophe that my life has become."The judge also sentenced Engle to 100 hours of community service andfive years of probation and ordered him to repay $265,500 to thelenders.
Live the Adventure. Enjoy the Journey. Be Kind. Have Faith!
GreyBeard
Interestingly (to me), at first he was also facebook status-ing from prison for a few days. Either I'm filtering this out, or he gave that aspect up. Anyway, I have very mixed emotions about Charlie. (side note, the previous secretary of the treasury was Henry Paulson. He is, apparently, related to ape banana wacky shit crazy maniac, Neil Paulson, aka bandito aka nice guy. For real)
He's still on FB, too.
2020
Here' an update from The New York Times' Joe Nocera on Charlie Engle.
Interesting perspective.