Berwyn Man Gets 33+ Years for Guilty Plea

A Berwyn man has been sentenced to 400 months in federal prison for operating a pyramid Ponzi scheme. Robert Stinson, Jr. defrauded more than 260 investors out of more than $17 million, according to the FBI.

to to five counts of wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud, nine counts of money laundering, one count of bank fraud, three counts of filing false tax returns, two counts of obstruction of justice, and two counts of making false statements to federal agents.

A quote posted on Stinson's My Space page reads "Every great achievement was once considered impossible."

The Crime

According to an FBI statement released after the sentence was imposed Tuesday "Stinson ran a company called Life’s Good Inc. that solicited investments in one of four real estate hedge funds, promising fixed returns of between 10 and 16 percent annually. However, rather than invest the money as promised, Stinson ran an elaborate Ponzi scheme that he used to steal investors’ money. Stinson falsely represented to investors that he was a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology with a wealth of business experience, when, in reality, he had been convicted of fraud multiple times and had previously been enjoined from committing securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)."

The Sentence

In addition to the 33 1/3 years sentence Stinson,56, must also pay $14 million in restitution to 263 victims and complete three years of supervised release. That would make him 92 years old when his sentence is fully served.

Stinson's wife Susan is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday for her role in obstructing the federal investigation of her husband.