HOUSTON R. Allen Stanford, the fallen financier convicted of bamboozling billions from innocent investors, has been sentenced to 110 years in Houston s biggest white collar fraud case since Enron.
The sandy-haired international banker, who once oversaw an empire of everything from yachts to resorts to polo clubs, shuffled into court shackled in handcuffs and leg irons. He later addressed the judge in a long and rambling statement that painted himself as a broken, beaten man.
I m not a thief, Stanford told the judge, pausing between words and choking back tears. The first thing on my mind every day, now that I can think clearly, is the pain and the financial suffering of the depositors of Stanford International Bank and the former employees of Stanford International.
Stanford repeatedly asserted his web of international businesses was not a Ponzi scheme. Once again, he blamed the collapse of his empire on overzealous prosecutors using Gestapo tactics and seeking a scapegoat during a global economic panic.
Stanford was a real brick and mortar global financial empire, he said. I worked my butt off 30 years to build this company.
Victims of his financial empire s collapse scoffed at Stanford s blubbering behavior, dismissing it as one final, phony performance by a colossal con man.
It was sickening, said Pattye Ward, one of the victims who watched the sentence hearing. He was delusional. He put on such an act today. There was nothing sincere in Allen Stanford. We know too much.
Prosecutors described Stanford s statement as obscene, saying he refused to accept responsibility for his crimes and blamed his problems on others. They pointed out that even Bernard Madoff confessed to his crimes and apologized to his victims, but Stanford doesn t have an ounce of remorse.
Prosecutors asked for the maximum sentence of 230 years. Defense attorneys asked for a sentence of 10 years, but said they weren t surprised as the judge handed down the 110 year sentence.
This is a man utterly without remorse, said William Stellnach, the lead prosecutor in the case. From beginning to end, he has treated his victims like roadkill.
Investors who lost much of their life savings in the scandal spoke before the sentencing, describing how the collapse of Stanford s international business empire impacted their lives. Dozens of them stood up in court as testament to what one of them described as the staggering impact of Stanford s crimes.
You are a dirty, rotten scoundrel, said Jaime Escalona, the leader of one of the coalitions of Stanford fraud victims. You deserve what is coming to you.
Many of the victims sounded weary after three years of legal battles. Anumber of them pointed out that, no matter how long Stanford s prison term, it won t help them recover their money.
People are dying, said David Smith, one of the victims. In the three years, several people have died who invested with them. They will never see their money and hopefully some of their descendants will get some of it. It s a nasty business.
Stanford was convicted of orchestrating an international Ponzi scheme that cost investors more than $7-billion. His financial empire attracted customers with high-interest certificates of deposit paying about 4 percent more than standard U.S. banks. .
But prosecutors presented evidence Stanford invested more than $2-billion in his own business ventures everything from yachts and jets to an exclusive resort and misled investors by telling them their money was deposited in safe government securities. They also accused Stanford of siphoning $160-million into a Swiss bank for his personal use.
Prosecutors say Stanford diverted billions into his own companies and bankrolled the lavish lifestyle of a global financier. The fourteen count indictment also alleged he misled investors with falsified financial data, blocked an investigation by U.S. securities regulators and dodged oversight by bribing auditors and banking regulators in Antigua.
This is a man utterly without remorse, Stellnach told the judge. From beginning to end, he has treated his victims like road kill.
His attorneys the latest in a series of lawyers hired and fired by an apparently erratic defendant staged a last minute attempt to save their client from spending the rest of his life in prison. They reiterated their argument that Stanford paid off all of his CD customers until an SEC investigation destroyed his banking empire.
It is just simply not a Ponzi scheme, defense attorney Ali Fazel told the judge during the sentencing hearing. Stanford and his companies invested heavily.
Fazel reiterated his argument that the government essentially triggered a run on Stanford s bank, causing the collapse of a financial enterprise that otherwise would have survived.
The government wants to make the case the money was simply wasted, Fazel argued. That is simply not the case.
Stanford is expected to appeal, but he s already told the court he doesn t have the money to fight his conviction. So the federal judge overseeing the case plans to name a court-appointed attorney to fight the former billionaire s sentence.
I am and will always be at peace with the way I conducted myself, Stanford said.
