Wednesday, December 2, 2009

Perils of Ponzi: Jury finds Petters guilty on all 20 counts

That's life in prison baby.
From the Minneapolis StarTribune:

Tom Petters found guilty on all 20 counts; sentencing expected in a couple months

After 31 1/2 hours of deliberations that spanned five days, jurors in St. Paul convicted Tom Petters Wednesday of masterminding a $3.65 billion Ponzi scheme for more than a decade.

The jurors looked serious and averted their eyes from Petters as they entered the court room. Petters, wearing a dark gray suit, white shirt and red tie, looked straight ahead, his chin resting on his hands, as a U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle began reading the verdict at 4:18 p.m.

Kyle went through each of the 20 counts by number, followed by the condemnation, "Guilty."...

...The 52-year-old liquidator who rose from a stereo salesman in his hometown of St. Cloud to buy Sun Country Airlines and Polaroid Corp., likely faces life in prison when he is sentenced about two months from now.