CASPER, Wyo., Aug. 30 (UPI) - A Utah man was sentenced to 12 years in prison for defrauding 83 investors of more than $4.4 million by promoting fake wind farms, court officials said.
Robert Arthur Reed solicited investments for non-existent farms in Wyoming and South Dakota, and many of his victims were elderly, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Reed, 53, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.
Reed said investors agreed to lend money to a wind-farm development company for three years.
He argued that he didn't deserve to go to prison, contending he hadn't committed any crime when he was arrested because the three-year loan period hadn't expired, the Times reported.
Reed told the victims he was a consultant to the company and that they had to make a minimum investment of $25,000.
Two of Reed's co-defendants, Lauren Elizabeth Scott and Gregory Lee Doss, pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money.
Scott was sentenced to 4 3/4 years in prison and Doss received a sentence of six years, the Standard Examiner reported.