A Wayne County securities broker convicted of bilking hundreds of investors out of more than $42 million denied any wrongdoing during his sentencing Friday, despite having accepted a plea deal with federal prosecutors nearly five years ago.
Eric Bartoli said he never met most of his alleged victims and the majority of them made investments through brokers, not him.
Bartoli also denied fleeing to Peru when he was under investigation in the United States for a Ponzi scheme.
“I can’t flee if no one is looking for me,” he said during his second sentencing in U.S. District Court in Akron, which was required because of a technical issue with his first sentencing.
U.S. District Judge John Adams pointed to Bartoli’s lack of remorse or acceptance of responsibility as the main reasons he was giving him the same sentence of 20 years in prison. This was more than double the penalty suggested in Bartoli’s plea agreement.
“I have never seen someone who has harmed so many people in so many ways and has so little remorse,” Adams said. “Not any shame. Not an apology. There is no remorse.”
More:Wayne County securities broker to be resentenced for Ponzi scheme
Federal prosecutors say Bartoli fled the country in 2003 after being charged for a massive Ponzi scheme that involved the sale of certificates of deposit and unregistered mutual funds, raising more than $65 million from an estimated 800 investors. He settled in Peru, where federal prosecutors say he worked as an investment…
