Jun 30, 2009 9:30 pm US/Eastern
N.J. Man Sentenced In $6M Ponzi Scam
CAMDEN, N.J. (CBS 3) ―
It may not be as wide-ranging as the theft orchestrated by Wall Street investor Bernard Madoff, but the $6 million stolen by Glyn Richards still destroyed dozens of lives.
So for his crimes, Richards will spend 30 years in federal prison.
Richards, 45, pled guilty last year to setting up a fake freight company: All Freight Logistics, Inc. in Audubon, N.J. From that office, he ran a Ponzi scheme that bilked more than 100 investors out of $5.8 million.
In exchange for a hefty buy in – ranging from $25,000 to more than $100,000 – prosecutors say Richards promised his investors quick and big returns. He told them he was about to land a government defense contract.
Many of Richards' victims were friends and family. People like David DiPasquale.
"I trusted him like a great friend, a family member," he said. "My family was almost destroyed. My kids' hopes and dreams, their college savings, it's all gone. It's all gone. It can't come back."
DiPasquale borrowed against the value of his home and may now face bankruptcy. Richards promised him he would take care of him "like a brother." Richards even came to DiPasquale's wedding seven years ago Tuesday.
Nearly a year after he pleaded guilty, dozens of victims packed the courtroom to hear Richards' sentence. Several made impassioned pleas for the judge to issue the maximum sentence.
In a move that surprised even prosecutors, Renée Marie Bumb went beyond the federal guidelines in handing Richards 30 years. She said it was "one of the most despicable crimes imaginable."
"It doesn't take a life – like a violent crime does, but it does destroy life," Bumb said. "I think you are a con man. You have been and you always will be. I think you'll be pulling a scam when you walk out the gates of prison."
Richards has been convicted of seven previous fraud crimes and instead of appearing in court for a January hearing, he fled to Florida.
"I just panicked," he told the judge during the sentencing hearing. "It was wrong, a horrible decision. I just went off the deep end."
Richards also apologized to his victims through tears.
"I have so much remorse I don't know where to start," he said. "I should have stopped it where I should have and I take responsibility for that."
Most people, though, were not buying what he had to say.
"The man was obviously a sociopathic criminal," said Duane Briggs, who is retired, lost more than $100,000 from Richards and now must go back to work. "Somebody that lacks remorse, does it without feeling. That's this individual."
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
