Incident With U.S. Marshals At Spangler Sentencing Was Simply A Misunderstanding Hot

Spangler was sentenced March 12 to 16 years in federal prison for diverting about half of the approximately $100 million in assets his financial planning firm managed into two risky startups he controlled, TeraHop Networks, a Spangler venture that went belly-up, and Tamarac Software, a successful venture that makes portfolio rebalancing, client reporting, and CRM software used by hundreds of RIAs.

 

The events leading up to my arrest in the U.S. District Court building in Seattle unfolded quickly, just seconds after U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez threw the book at Spangler.

 

When Spangler exited the courtroom in handcuffs, I followed him and the two U.S. Marshals escorting him. Spangler was taken into the men’s room to compose himself and I approached the two U.S. Marshals blocking entry to the men’s room. This is where the misunderstanding occurred.

 

When I approached the two federal agents, I had no intention of offering them a bribe to let me into the men’s room. I was holding two $50 bills  because I was about to leave for the airport and was checking to see if I had enough cash on hand to pay the cab fare.