MIAMI (CelebrityAccess) — Jack Utsick, a concert promoter who in his heydey staged hundreds of major concerts around the world, was sentenced to more than 18 years in prison on Tuesday for running a $200 million fraud scheme.
According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Cecilia M. Altonaga rejected Utsick's pleas for leniency and handed down nearly the maximum sentence. Utsick's lawyers contended that their client had suffered from bipolar disorder and had fully intended to turn his company around and repay investors.
“It matters not, at the end of the day, whether on day one his intentions were good,” Altonaga was quoted by the Associated Press. “There are far too many victims who suffered far too many losses. Too many lives ruined.”
Utsick plead guilty in June to one count of mail fraud in a long-running case that stemmed from a 2006 lawsuit brought against Utisck by the Securities and Exchange Commission over Utsick's activities in the stock options market. The lawsuit led the court to appoint a receiver who soon realized that Utsick's company Worldwide Entertainment, was operating as a fraud.
Utsick decamped to Brazil but was later arrested there and extradited to the US in 2014 to face trial. – Staff Writers
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