From The Associated Press, 7/13/07:
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/13/ap3913087.html
Ex-Candidate Sentenced for Ponzi Scheme
By MATTHEW BROWN
BILLINGS, Mont. -
A former Montana gubernatorial candidate and investment adviser was
sentenced Friday to 10 years in federal prison for his role in a Ponzi
scheme authorities say bilked investors out of $6.8 million.
Patrick Davison, 50, was also ordered to pay $5.6 million in
restitution.
He pleaded guilty in November to two counts of securities fraud.
"I can't run from what I did. I can't run from the people I hurt. I
have to stand and take my due," Davison told the judge.
The scheme lasted almost eight years, from 1995 through March, 2003,
according to court documents.
Prosecutors said victims were tricked into investing in nonexistent
securities.
To string the investors along, Davison, a former financial adviser for
UBS Financial Services, doled out interest payments while pocketing
most of the money for his personal use, prosecutors said.
Davison served on the Montana Board of Regents from 1993-2000.
He ran for the Republican nomination for governor in 2004 but lost in
a four-way primary.
The sentence he was given Friday was the statutory maximum.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Cebull chastised Davison, saying:
"You held yourself out as a pillar of the community all the time you
were stealing money."
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Harry
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