Ohio execs sentenced for $1.9B fraud
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) _ A federal judge on Wednesday handed down the first sentences to defendants convicted in a $1.9 billion corporate fraud case that federal prosecutors compared to the Enron or WorldCom scandals.
U.S. District Judge Algenon Marbley sentenced Donald Ayers, a former chief operating officer with National Century Financial Enterprises, to 15 years in prison for his role in the fraud. Randolph Speer, the company's former chief financial officer, received a 12-year sentence.
The sentences were long enough to punish the men, to deter others from committing similar crimes in the future and to respect the law, Marbley said.
Marbley also ordered the men to repay billions of dollars to investors, along with three other co-defendants yet to be sentenced.
Speer, 57, of Peachtree City, Ga., and Ayers, 72, of Fort Myers, Fla.
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