This guy is in deep typical AA denial. He said he did not mean to cheat anyone. Everyone else is lying. Even fellow AA members testified on his behalf. Yet he still will have to sit behind bars for 12 years and give up 50 million dollars! Incredible!
Sky Capital’s Mandell Sentenced to 12 Years for Fraud
Sky Capital Holdings Ltd. founder Ross Mandell was sentenced to 12 years in prison for operating what prosecutors alleged was an eight-year scheme that defrauded investors of $140 million.
Mandell, of Boca Raton, Florida, was found guilty in July of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud– all the counts against him — after a trial before U.S. District Judge Paul Crotty in Manhattan. At a hearing today, Crotty also ordered Mandell to serve three years’ probation, pay $10,000 fine and forfeit $50 million. Mandell, who is free on bail, must report to prison on June 18, Crotty said.
Mandell, 55, asked Crotty for mercy in sentencing him, saying that he and his family have suffered continuously since FBI agents raided Sky in November 2006. He told the judge he never intended to cheat anyone, blaming his conviction on false testimony by witnesses given in exchange for leniency.
“This is supposed to be about the truth,” said Mandell, who didn’t testify at his trial. “The people who cooperated here perjured themselves. They lied.”
Prosecutors accused Mandell and his co-defendants of using the money for personal expenditures including private jets, strip clubs, luxury hotels and expensive Swiss watches.
‘Significant Sentences’
Adam Harrington, of Miami, a former broker at Sky Capital who was tried with Mandell, was convicted of the same four counts. He will be sentenced tomorrow. The government asked for“significant sentences” for both men.
A presentence report by federal probation authorities called for Mandell to get 30 years in prison.
Mandell, who has a wife and two daughters, ages 12 and 8, submitted letters from more than 125 people in his support, including people he’d helped through Alcoholics Anonymous.
Mandell, Harrington and others at Sky Capital also used the money to award themselves excessive commissions and pay off other victims who’d lost money through prior purported investment opportunities, prosecutors argued during the trial.
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