ALLEN STANFORD SENTENCED 110 YEARS for PONZI SCHEME // BREAKING NEWS

ALLEN STANFORD SENTENCED 110 YEARS FOR PONZI SCHEME // BREAKING NEWS – ALLEN STANFORD FOUND GUILTY OF B PONZI // BREAKING NEWS If federal prosecutors have their way, former jet-setting Texas tycoon R. Allen Stanford could receive a prison sentence that spans two centuries for bilking investors out of more than billion over two decades in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in US history. Calling Stanford a “ruthless predator” who stole from investors “simply to satisfy his own greed and vanity,” prosecutors are asking US District Judge David Hittner to sentence the one-time billionaire to 230 years in prison, the maximum sentence he faces at a hearing Thursday. A jury convicted Stanford in March on 13 of 14 fraud-related counts. Stanford’s attorneys are asking for a maximum of 44 months, a sentence he could actually complete within about eight months because he has already been in jail since his arrest in June 2009. Prosecutors also want Hittner to order Stanford to forfeit .9 billion, but that would be symbolic because Stanford, now penniless, had to rely on court-appointed attorneys to defend him. Prosecutors said Stanford used the money from investors who bought certificates of deposit, or CDs, from his bank on the Caribbean island nation of Antigua to fund a string of failed businesses, bribe regulators and pay for a lavish lifestyle. Defense attorneys portrayed Stanford, 62, as a visionary entrepreneur who conducted legitimate business deals. Before imposing the sentence, Hittner was expected to hear from two people speaking on …

Heroin in paradise; drug use in SLO County

Filed under: drug treatment news 2011

Over a longer period, the number of people in the county's drug treatment program using heroin as their primary drug has more than quadrupled since 2006, growing from 2.1 percent to 8.9 percent in 2011-12. Furthermore, Beetham's team is increasingly …
Read more on San Luis Obispo Tribune