COURT SENTENCES MINOR PLAYER IN ROTHSTEIN PONZI SCHEME TO TEN MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON

Eddy Marin: very minor player, still drew prison time

Even individuals on the fringe of a Ponzi scheme often find themselves charged with a crime, when the scheme implodes, and prosecutors cast a wide net to catch the perpetrators, irrespective of their level of involvement. The Scott Rothstein case is no exception to this principle.

Rothstein's billion dollar scheme, which sold victims participation in phantom out-of-court settlements of sexual harassment, age discrimination, and whistleblower cases, has resulted in numerous convictions, often after guilty pleas, of fringe players. This week, an individual who assisted Rothstein's wife, Kimberly, in disposing of some of her jewelry, and lying about it to investigators, pled guilty to Obstruction of Justice. He will serve ten months in Federal Prison, and also have one year of Supervised Release, the post-incerarion form of parole in use in the Federal justice system.

Would he have only faced probation in a non-Ponzi case ? We cannot say, but if you are, even tangentially, involved in a Ponzi scheme, or learn, to your dismay, that one is ongoing at work, run away fast, and don't look back., for it will eventually explode, taking down everybody.