Dallas lawyer sentenced to prison for defrauding vodka investors
A Dallas lawyer who collected nearly $1.6 million from investors for a vodka that didn’t exist has been sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
Andrew Lee Siegel, 54, had pleaded guilty earlier to investor fraud and copyright infringement charges, the Dallas Morning News reports.
Siegel has also been ordered to pay investors $285,310 in restitution.
Prosecutors said Siegel created a company to produce and bottle a brand of vodka called Nue Vodka. (The Dallas Morning News notes that Nue Vodka is an existing brand that Siegel isn’t involved with.) He also created a private placement memorandum for the company authorizing the sale of up to $2 million in common stock.
Siegel’s lawyer, Bob Webster, had told U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade that his client had used some of the money for business purposes and to make up for some of his losses.
But assistant U.S. Attorney David Jarvis said Siegel used investors’ money on a house payment, a large party for his daughter and tuition so that his daughter could attend an exclusive private school.
Siegel blamed his actions on his “manic phase” and told the judge he was a “shattered” man.
