Phone Home II

Michael Mathie, 33, is serving 10–30 years in New York’s Elmira Prison for manslaughter, but he’s learning a trade. Actually, he’s learning to trade: he telephones his father with stock tips, and his father places the trades for him. He’s doing pretty well: in 1999, Mathie’s adjusted gross income was $899,969, starting from a $75,000 nest egg several years before. A spokesman for New York’s Department of Correctional Services says there’s nothing illegal about the practice since inmates have a right to discuss anything they wish on the telephone. However, he said, it’s pretty unusual, considering “most inmates wouldn’t know a stock exchange from a soccer ball.” (AP) ...Actually, that’s where the tips are coming from — a soccer ball Mathie affectionately calls “Wilson”.