Convict offers $19 million for leniency
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A former money manager convicted in a Ponzi scheme is offering to pay victims $19 million in return for a lenient sentence.
Jason "Bo" Beckman is facing a possible life sentence on 15 fraud and money-laundering charges related to a $194 Ponzi scheme run by a business associate. The fraudulent investment scheme bilked more than 700 people, mostly retirees.
A memo filed Tuesday in federal court by Beckman's attorney, Douglas Altman, says Beckman would write a check for $19 million in exchange for a 364-day cap on incarceration, three years of probation and 2,000 hours of community service.
The Star Tribune says federal prosecutors argue Beckman "must be locked up for the rest of his life because he is a very dangerous individual who is certain to hurt people if he is ever released."
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.