White-collar offenders will meet the judges who sent them to prison in Nov. 12 program at School of Law

Four Minnesota white-collar offenders who have served time in federal prisons will meet the prosecuting attorneys and judges who put them there, but this time it won't be in a court room.

Instead, the defendants, lawyers and judges will come together in an unprecedented forum, "Crime, Punishment and Redemption: Three Unique Reunions," that will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, in the Schulze Grand Atrium at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in downtown Minneapolis.

The forum will feature a series of three conversations between those convicted of white-collar crimes and the judges who sentenced them. The prosecutors who charged the cases will moderate the discussions, which will cover what led to the wrongdoing, how the offenders were punished, what can be learned from others' failures, and the road to recovery, rehabilitation and redemption.

The program is one of an ongoing series of Medtronic Business and Law Roundtables hosted by the university's Holloran Center for Ethical Leadership in the Professions and the Center for Ethical Business Cultures at St. Thomas' Opus College of Business.

The forum is free and open to the public but reservations are requested. To reserve a seat and for more information visit the Holloran Center's Web site.  A reception with light refreshments will follow the discussion.

  • The first panel will feature Stephen Rondestvedt and Judge John Tunheim. A former lawyer, Rondestvedt defrauded his clients of more than $750,000. After pleading guilty to mail fraud, he was disbarred and sentenced by Tunheim to 46 months imprisonment and ordered to pay full restitution.
  • The second panel will feature David Logan and Chief Judge Michael Davis. A former CEO and city administrator in Pipestone, Logan was prosecuted for and pled guilty to bank-fraud offenses in connection with a company he helped form, Global Ventures, along with bribery offenses in connection with his prior position as city administrator. He was sentenced by Davis to 71 months imprisonment, $250,000 in extraordinary restitution, a $250,000 fine, and forfeiture of $250,000.
  • The third panel will feature Nick and Carolyn Ryberg and Judge Joan Ericksen. What began as a conflict of interest with Nick Ryberg's employer became a $1 million false-invoicing scheme, for which Nick Ryberg and his wife Carolyn both went to federal prison after pleading guilty to mail fraud. Ericksen sentenced the Rybergs to 30 and 24 months federal imprisonment, respectively, and ordered them to pay $964,264.57 in restitution. 

Moderating the first two panels will be Hank Shea, a St. Thomas law professor who prosecuted the Rondestvedt and Logan cases when he was an assistant U.S. attorney for Minnesota. Moderating the third panel will be Frank Magill, assistant U.S. attorney and former acting U.S. attorney for Minnesota, who prosecuted the Ryberg case.

Following the three panels, Judge Diana Murphy will offer concluding remarks. A former chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, Murphy has served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 8th Circuit since 1994 and was a federal district court judge from 1979 to 1994.