Indianapolis businessman Tim Durham, who was convicted of 12 counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, received a 50-year prison sentence Friday in federal court. That is much less than the 225-year sentence prosecutors sought, but he may still spend the rest of his life in prison.
Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson handed down the sentence after the U.S. District Court in Indianapolis heard from victims of Akron, Ohio based Fair Finance. One of those who spoke was an elderly nun who lost more than $100,000 of her own money she was setting aside to help build a school for mentally challenged children.
Durham did speak in his own defense, but the judge later said she did not find remorse in his statement. U.S. District Attorney Joe Hogsett says no one is a winner in the sentencing, but justice has been done.
"It is my hope that these victims can now begin the long and difficult process of finding peace, and faith and trust once more," he says.
More than 5,000 people lost a total of $200 million when the bank Durham bought in 2002 collapsed. Durham and his associates were convicted of spending investor dollars on lavish homes, yachts, and cars.
Durham's lawyer John Tompkins says he still plans to appeal the original conviction, handed down this summer.
Financier Tim Durham has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. His business partners James Cochran was sentenced to 25 years, and Rick Snow received 10 years.
Read the original story from Network Indiana below.
Three businessmen convicted of defrauding thousands of investors out of $200 million are awaiting sentencing in the U.S. District Court. Tim Durham and partners James Cochran and Rick Snow face a sentencing hearing Friday where Durham faces 225 years on numerous wire and securities fraud charges.
The charges are related to the collapse of Fair Finance Co. back in June, after a jury found Durham and partners guilty of various charges. Tim Durham was found guilty on 12 counts including fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. Durham's attorney, John Tompkins says he is seeking leniency from a federal court judge. Tompkins says he is seeking to reduce the sentence to five years.
"A suggested sentence by the U.S. Probation Department of up to 225 years and our sentencing memorandum did a calculation based on the same guideline that we thing justifies a sentence of five years," Tompkins says.
Sentencing arguments begin 9 a.m. Durham will be sentenced at 1 p.m. Cochran will be sentenced at 2:30 p.m. Snow will be sentenced at 3:30 p.m.
