Associated Press - October 31, 2009 11:04 AM ET
BOISE, Idaho (AP) - The U.S. Attorney's Office says a Kooskia (KHOOS-key) resident has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for stealing roughly $1.6 million from investors in a Ponzi scheme.
U.S. District Judge Edward Lodge handed down the sentence against 52-year-old Steven Tennies on Tuesday.
The judge also ordered that Tennies pay about $1.6 million in restitution to his victims.
Tennies pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud in July 2009. Prosecutors said that Tennies and his company, Price Geld & Company, sold limited partnership interests in a special fund to investors in several states, and Tennies took the money for personal use instead of investing it. Prosecutors said Tennies made phony tax documents and account statements to hide the fraud, and used money from new investors to pay returns to other investors.
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