 |
|
Nevin Shapiro loses appeal to toss out his prison term
Posted on: March 10, 2017 at 15:30:36 CT
FIJItiger MU
Posts:
147933
Member For:
22.52 yrs
Level:
Moderator
M.O.B. Votes:
7
https://www.law360.com/newjersey/articles/899084/fraudster-loses-bid-to-toss-20-year-sentence-in-930m-scam
A New Jersey federal judge has declined to set aside a 20-year prison sentence for a man who copped to masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme using a fake grocery wholesale distributing business, saying that his claims of a conspiracy don’t outweigh his 2010 guilty plea.
Nevin Shapiro, of Florida, was seeking to vacate a 20-year prison sentence handed down after he copped to using his sham company Capitol Investments USA Inc. to run a Ponzi scheme through which he raised more than $930 million from investors. U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton on Monday rejected Shapiro’s bid to undo the sentence, saying that Shapiro’s theory that one of his attorneys was working against him does not undo his open admission of guilt in court.
“In making these claims petitioner is essentially seeking to contradict his own solemn declarations made in open court in which he admitted his guilt and admitted to the operation of a Ponzi scheme resulting in tens of millions of dollars of losses for his over 60 victims,” Judge Wigenton said in a written opinion.
Shapiro pled guilty in September 2010 to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering. Judge Wigenton sentenced Shapiro to 20 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay $82.5 million in restitution to his victims.
The parties originally agreed that the maximum Shapiro would receive under the federal sentencing guidelines was 210 months — three months fewer than 20 years. But the judge went over the suggested guideline range, ruling that a 20-year prison sentence more accurately reflected the seriousness of the offense.
Shapiro appealed, but the Third Circuit in 2012 unanimously ruled that Judge Wigenton’s decision to vary upward from the recommended guidelines was reasonable.
Shapiro then asked Judge Wigenton in 2014 to vacate the sentence, saying that the government withheld evidence prior to his sentencing and that his own lawyer had done the same due to an alleged personal vendetta.
Judge Wigenton said in both instances that the evidence would have failed to establish Shapiro’s innocence, and that Shapiro did not show anything to refute his own admission of guilt.
A New Jersey federal judge has declined to set aside a 20-year prison sentence for a man who copped to masterminding a $930 million Ponzi scheme using a fake grocery wholesale distributing business, saying that his claims of a conspiracy don’t outweigh his 2010 guilty plea.
Nevin Shapiro, of Florida, was seeking to vacate a 20-year prison sentence handed down after he copped to using his sham company Capitol Investments USA Inc. to run a Ponzi scheme through which he raised more than $930 million from investors. U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton on Monday rejected Shapiro’s bid to undo the sentence, saying that Shapiro’s theory that one of his attorneys was working against him does not undo his open admission of guilt in court.
“In making these claims petitioner is essentially seeking to contradict his own solemn declarations made in open court in which he admitted his guilt and admitted to the operation of a Ponzi scheme resulting in tens of millions of dollars of losses for his over 60 victims,” Judge Wigenton said in a written opinion.
Shapiro pled guilty in September 2010 to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering. Judge Wigenton sentenced Shapiro to 20 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay $82.5 million in restitution to his victims.
The parties originally agreed that the maximum Shapiro would receive under the federal sentencing guidelines was 210 months — three months fewer than 20 years. But the judge went over the suggested guideline range, ruling that a 20-year prison sentence more accurately reflected the seriousness of the offense.
Shapiro appealed, but the Third Circuit in 2012 unanimously ruled that Judge Wigenton’s decision to vary upward from the recommended guidelines was reasonable.
Shapiro then asked Judge Wigenton in 2014 to vacate the sentence, saying that the government withheld evidence prior to his sentencing and that his own lawyer had done the same due to an alleged personal vendetta.
Judge Wigenton said in both instances that the evidence would have failed to establish Shapiro’s innocence, and that Shapiro did not show anything to refute his own admission of guilt.
Please explain why this message is being reported.
MESSAGE THREAD
Nevin Shapiro loses appeal to toss out his prison term - FIJItiger MU - 3/10 15:30:36