CONNECTICUT'S BIGGEST PONZI SCHEMER SENTENCED TO THIRTEEN YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON

Francisco Illarramendi, who operated a massive Ponzi scheme at his unregistered hedge fund, and lived the high life, taking $20m of his clients' money to fund a rich lifestyle, was sentenced today to thirteen years in Federal Prison, plus three years of Supervised Release. The Court deferred the imposition of restitution until an accurate computation, after payment to victims by the Receiver, can be made. The Government had requested a sentence of at least 12 years, although technically his Guidelines is a Life Sentence, due to the huge amount of the loss sufered by the victims.

Just prior to the sentencing, the Receiver weighed in on the "facts" recited in Illarramendi's Sentencing Memorandum, in a reply, that asserted:

(1) Illarramendi's objection to the Receiver's distribution plan has already been heard and overruled.
(2) Illarramendi stole millions of dollars from his victims to fund his lavish lifestyle, and he has not provided meaningful cooperation to the Receiver.
(3) Since his guilty plea, Illarramendi has continued to violate court orders, and divert receivership assets.
(4) Any argument that there is a "zero" loss is disingenuous, and not supported by the facts, or common sense.

Remember, this is the guy whose house (which he built with stolen money) is so big that a radio signal for a Home Confinement device could not reach all its rooms; He personifies greed and avarice. I personally find the most egregious violation that the defendant committed, during his case, was to take a $600,000 Connecticut state tax refund, that should have been turned over to the Receiver, to help reimburse the victims, who are said to exceed one hundred companies, entities and individuals. A thirteen year sentence is not enough punishment, in my humble opinion; he richly deserves twenty years. Otherwise, he will still be young enough at release to commit additional financial crimes.