Allen Stanford, the Texan banker, was sentenced to 110 years in prison for defrauding customers of $7bn to fund a lavish lifestyle including the purchase of Caribbean property, a fleet of aeroplanes and an international cricket tournament.
The 110-year sentence handed down by US judge David Hittner is less than the Department of Justice’s recommendation of a statutory maximum of 230 years. It compares with a 150-year sentence handed to Bernard Madoff, who pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme estimated at $17.3bn.
Prosecutors said in court filings that Mr Stanford was “a ruthless predator responsible for one of the most egregious frauds in history and he should be sentenced to the statutory maximum”. Mr Stanford was convicted in March on charges that he ran the Ponzi scheme for more than two decades.