Former BigLaw associate gets 5 years in $5M Ponzi scheme that bilked friends and relatives
A former BigLaw associate who bilked friends and relations of their savings in a Ponzi scheme that came to light after a failed suicide attempt was sentenced Thursday to five years in federal prison.
Charles Bennett, now 58, had attempted to kill himself in November 2014 by jumping into the Hudson River, the Associated Press reports. He was rescued and revived, but then criminally charged after authorities read about the $5 million fraud in his suicide note.
Bennett, who earlier pleaded guilty to securities fraud, tearfully apologized before U.S. District Judge Laura Taylor Swain in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.
She said she gave him a sentence toward the higher end of what federal sentencing guidelines recommend after hearing testimony by several individuals who said they had lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Related coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Former BigLaw lawyer pleads guilty in Ponzi scheme”
