Stanford faces life behind bars in sentencing today

Published Jun 14, 2012 at 10:00 am (Updated Jun 14, 2012)

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 $7 billion over two decades in one of the largest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history. Calling Stanford a "ruthless predator" who stole from investors "simply to satisfy his own greed and vanity," prosecutors are asking U.S. District Judge David Hittner to sentence the one-time billionaire to 230 years in prison, the maximum sentence he faces at a hearing today. 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 the 62-year-old 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 $5.9 billion, but that would be symbolic because Stanford, now penniless, had to rely on court-appointed attorneys to defend him. Before imposing the sentence, Hittner was expected to hear from two people speaking on behalf of investors about how Stanford's fraud has affected their lives. Get the full story from The Associated Press here.