N.J. con man gets 30 years for Ponzi scheme

A Haddon Heights con man compared by his victims to Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff expressed remorse yesterday to a skeptical federal judge, who responded by sentencing him to 30 years in prison.

Glyn Richards, 45, mastermind of a Ponzi scheme that cost investors nearly $6 million, sat with his ankles shackled and his head bowed during most of a three-hour sentencing hearing at U.S. District Court in Camden.

Several of his victims, some tearful, told heartbreaking stories of lives turned into chaos after they were swindled by Richards, who pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and money laundering. Many had trusted him with savings they intended for retirement and their children's college educations.

"I have so much remorse," a sobbing Richards said, often stopping to compose himself. Only Richards' lawyer, Marlton attorney John Renner, spoke on his behalf.

Richards spoke of his ill father, his two young children, and grandchildren from an earlier marriage whom he has hasn't seen in two years.

"I always tried to be a good father," he mumbled, prompting swift reaction from several in the courtroom, who testified that Richards had sworn on his children that they would get their money back.

The judge also took issue with Richards' expressions of regret.

"You didn't even care about your own family," U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb said of Richards, who skipped his father-in-law's funeral to attend a business meeting and stole from two sets of grandparents.

Bumb said she believed that Richards, who had seven previous fraud convictions, had little empathy for his victims, some of whom are elderly and must now work through what was to have been their retirement.

Richards began collecting money from investors in May 2005, saying he had a government defense contract to ship military equipment overseas. He said his firm, All Freight Logistics, needed up-front cash to pay overseas agents and shipping lines.

He promised high returns on contracts typically involving $25,000 invested for 120 days. His clients later learned that All Freight was a bogus company and that their money had gone toward Richards' lavish lifestyle, which included properties throughout the United States, fancy cars, and stays in fine hotels.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana Carrig estimated that Richards had scammed $5.8 million from at least 62 victims, including members of his own family. Some lost their homes, she said.

"He stole their dreams," Carrig said, asserting that more victims recently had come forward and investigators had not yet finalized the losses. A restitution hearing is scheduled for September.

Carrig called Richards a "predator" and "master manipulator" and asked for a lengthy prison term consistent with an agreement prosecutors had made with him last year, when he pleaded guilty.

"I looked up to him like a big brother," David DiPasquale told the judge. DiPasquale said that his marriage was in turmoil as he and his wife struggled to support their children, ages 3 and 6 months. "I'm heading down the road of bankruptcy," he said.

Tom Whitman got a round of applause when he suggested that Richards deserved the fate of Madoff, who was sentenced Monday to 150 years in prison. "Throw the book at him, please," he told the judge.

The judge exceeded the sentence prosecutors had requested, noting that Richards had violated several terms of release while free on $350,000 bond, including setting off a nationwide manhunt when he fled to Tampa, Fla., in February.

"I just went off the deep end," Richards explained to the judge.

Bumb characterized it differently. Richards had preyed on family, friends, and friends of friends to feed his "greed" and "gluttonous appetite," the judge said. And then, she said, he tried to escape responsibility.