Crime & Safety

Burnsville Ponzi Scheme Collaborator Gets 20 Year Sentence

Patrick Kiley was a former radio host who encouraged his listeners to invest their money with Trevor Cook, who lead the Ponzi Scheme.

A 75-year-old Burnsville man could spend the rest of his life in prison for his role in the Ponzi scheme headed by Trevor Cook.

In federal court today, a judge sentenced Patrick Kiley to 240 months in prison. He was sentenced "on 12 counts of wire and mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering," the United States Justice Department said in a news release.

Federal prison does not have the possibility for parole, so the majority of his sentence will be in prison.

Kiley and two defendants were convicted last year for taking part in the multi-million dollar scheme with Cook, who was sentenced to 300 months in prison in 2010.

In addition to the prison sentence, Kiley and his co-defendants will have to pay $155,359,411.77 in restitution.

The other defendants have been sentenced as stated in the news release:

Jason Bo-Alan Beckman, age 43, of Plymouth, sentenced to 360 months in federal prison, on 17 counts of wire and mail fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, four counts of money laundering, two counts of filing a false tax return, and one count of tax evasion.

Gerald Joseph Durand, age 62, of Faribault, sentenced to 240 months on 12 counts of wire and mail fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering, two counts of concealing a material fact from the U.S., and three counts of filing a false tax return.

Also previously sentenced:
Christopher Pettengill, age 56, also of Plymouth, sentenced to 90 months in federal prison on one count of securities fraud, one count of  conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and one count of money laundering.

Read the full Department of Justice - Minnesota news release.


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