David's D-day
Published:Thursday | August 11, 2011 | 12:00 AM
- Olint boss faces morning sentencing
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
David Smith, the convicted operator of the Ponzi scheme, Olint, is to know his fate today when he appears in the United States District Court in Orlando, Florida.
Smith is to be sentenced after pleading guilty to 23 counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering.
Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, but that prison term is not mandatory.
Judge Mary S. Scriven is to decide how much time Smith will serve on each count and if the sentences are to run consecutively or concurrently.
Lawyers representing Smith have appealed to the court for leniency and for the sentences to run concurrently.
The lawyers have hinted that the six and a half years, which Smith was sentenced to in the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI), is what they would consider fair.
"The TCI matter was based on the same crimes involving the same scheme as those before this instant court, to wit conspiracy to defraud and conspiracy to launder money," Smith's attorney said in a motion filed in court last week.
"Both prosecutions arise from the same factual situation, involving the same victims, same perpetrator, same modus operandi and the same scheme as the counts delineated in the US information," Smith's lawyers added.
They also asked the court to note that Smith's conviction for his role in Olint represents his first criminal conviction.
But, despite a plea deal with Smith, US prosecutors have asked the court to impose a lengthy sentence on him.
They have argued that the court should impose a sentence reflecting the seriousness of the charges and to have the sentences run consecutively.
The sentencing hearing of the man who tricked investors out of more than US$220 million is slated to begin at 9 a.m.