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search) w as sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison by a judge who blamed him for duping investors of his bankrupted cable company in "one of the largest frauds in corporate history." "Were it not for your age and health, I would impose a sentence far great er than I do today," US District Judge Leonard Sand told the 80-year-o ld Rigas after the one-time high flying cable empire patriarch insisted he meant no wrong. Rigas' 48-year-old son, Timothy, the company's former chief financial off icer, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
The judge ordered both Rigases to surrender for prison Sept. The pair had faced up to 30 years in prison each on their bank fraud conv ictions alone. They were also convicted of securities fraud and conspira cy. During trial, prosecutors accused the Rigases of stealing at least $ 100 million for their personal use.
search) on a track of lying, of cheating, of defrauding," Sand said of the elder Rigas. "Regrettably for everyone, this was not stopped over 10 years ago. It got more urgent and culminat ed in one of the largest frauds in corporate history."
The Rigases are among a slew of former corporate executives who have been convicted since the fall of Enron in 2001 touched off a parade of white -collar scandals. The sentencing came just three days after a state court jury found former Tyco International Ltd. CEO L Dennis Kozlowski and former Tyco CFO Mar k Swartz guilty of looting that company of $600 million. Former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers faces sentencing next month for his role in that com pany's record $11 billion accounting fraud. Before his sentence was handed down Monday, Rigas acknowledged that "mist akes were made" in the way he ran the company, but said he intended no w rong. "I may be convicted and sentenced," said Rigas, "but in my heart and cons cience, I'll go to my grave believing truly that I did nothing but try t o improve conditions" for the company and his family. The judge said that if Rigas serves at least two years and is judged by p risons officials to have less than three months to live, prisons officia ls can ask the court to cut the sentence short. It now operates under bankruptcy protection in Greenwood Vill age, Colo. At the trial, prosecutors said the Rigases used complicated cash-manageme nt systems to spread money around to various family-owned entities and a s a cover for stealing about $100 million for themselves. Prosecutors also described a lengthy list of personal luxuries that they said the Rigases financed with money stolen from the company. One prosecutor said John Rigas had ordered two Christmas trees flown to N ew York for his daughter at a cost of $6,000. Prosecutors also said he o rdered up 17 company cars and had the company buy 3,600 acres of timberl and at a cost of $26 million to preserve the view outside his Couderspor t home. Rigas' lawyer told jurors those charges were ludicrous and that "if you s aw this on 'Seinfeld,' you'd double up." A second Rigas son, Michael, former executive vice president for operatio ns, was acquitted of conspiracy and wire fraud. However, jurors were dea dlocked on 15 counts of securities fraud and two counts of bank fraud. Former Adelphia assistant treasurer Michael Mulcahey was tried with the R igases but was acquitted of all charges.
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