Attorney Brett Schwartz weighed in on one of the most prominent cases involving a man who was accused of organizing a Ponzi scheme that was ultimately worth $1.4 billion before he was arrested. He spoke with Gossip Extra, who reported this story just last week. The client was an attorney who orchestrated his Ponzi schemes to offer cash in a lump sum to those who received sizeable settlements from lawsuits.
Seeking a Sentence Reduction
A man is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence, five years of which he has signed. The client is seeking to leverage the fact that he has been on good behavior and because he has helped federal law enforcement capture at least 30 known accomplices who were involved during his time running the Ponzi scheme.
The client is currently being held in a prison at an undisclosed location, away from the prying eyes of the public, as well as members of organized crime rings. It can be said with great certainty that should his location be revealed, his safety and his life would be in danger.
The general public’s opinion may not weigh too heavily in his favor, either. A judge may take this fact into consideration when deciding on whether or not to approve the motion to reduce his sentence.
Federal Reduction Formulas
As of now, the motion for the client is pending. He had already filed two years prior to reduce his sentence. He is seeking to reduce his 50-year sentence by 75%, which he believes he deserves based on calculations from federal sentence reduction formulas. This could potentially mean that he would only serve 12 and a half years of his sentence, with a possible release date of 2020.
There are some misgivings about the potential for a reduction for this type of offense. Attorney Brett Schwartz had this to say: “In reducing a sentence, a judge also considers the public sentiment. In [this] case, he has ruined people’s lives, and there would be an outcry if he’s hanging around Fort Lauderdale in five years. I’d be surprised if his sentence is reduced by more than 15 years.”
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Hager & Schwartz, P.A. has over 35 years of experience representing clients who were accused of very serious crimes, including federal crimes and white-collar offenses. As seen in the case above, we want to prevent our clients from facing the consequences and declined reputation that being charged with a crime can bring.
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