In May of 2020, David Staveley and his partner, David Butziger, were arrested for filing false applications as the owners of three restaurants and a business known as “Dock Wireless.”

While Butziger will be sentenced in November due to committing bank fraud, Staveley was sentenced to four and a half years in prison for faking his suicide, using false documents, and stealing license plates and phone numbers to escape to Atlanta, Georgia.

Another crime Staveley committed was trying to use the pandemic as a way to get rich. He scammed a federal government program by lying about co-owning four large businesses in need of more than a half million dollars each. 

WJPS junior, Giovanni Duran stated, “Personally, I think the government was right in giving him four and a half years in prison. I think this because realistically he could have done way worse in his situation.”

WJPS teacher, Ms. Patritti commented, “David Staveley should receive a more strict punishment. I am not sure if adding more years to his sentence would be the right one, but I definitely think he should be obligated to contribute in one way or another to our society. Furthermore, he should pay back all the money he stole from innocent people.”

The government should have been more strict with Staveley’s punishment. His sentence should have been at least six years in prison with four years of supervised release. 

“Modern Government Buildings” by mikecogh is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0