See what I mean? This dude had a double dose. Sovereign Citizens Unite!
http://www.al.com/news/birmingham/index.ssf/2014/06/alabaster_attorney_sentenced_f_1.htmlAlabaster attorney sentenced for investor fraud, used $2.5 million to buy house, travel to Cam Newton's Heisman ceremony
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Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com By Kent Faulk | kfaulk@al.com
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on June 26, 2014 at 7:33 PM, updated June 27, 2014 at 1:03 PM
BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – A former Alabaster attorney on Thursday was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for his guilty plea to charges that he bilked investors out of $2.5 million.
Instead of investing the money he bought a house, luxury items, and trips, including one to Auburn University quarterback Cam Newton's Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Christopher Shawn Linton, 34, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Virginia Hopkins to 71 months in prison and ordered to pay $2.5 million restitution to 12 investors. Linton also was ordered to serve five years under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office once he is released.
Linton is to report to the designated federal prison on Sept. 22, Hopkins said. The judge is recommending that Linton be sent to a prison that has the ability to deal with mental health issues.
Hopkins called Linton a "robber baron, because you are a robber and you lived like a baron."
Linton pleaded guilty earlier this year to frauds and swindles, wire fraud, bank fraud, and illegal money transactions.
According to a sentencing memorandum from Assistant U.S. Attorney Robin Mark and other documents, the charges against Linton related to a scheme that went like this:
Linton purchased company stock and became an officer, partner and part owner of a business called Integrity Capital, Inc. in 2007. The business made advance payments to lawyers who submitted vouchers for work performed for the state, then received voucher payments from the state and kept a percentage as a service fee.
Linton formed Integrity Capital LLC in 2009 and, in August of that year, and began recruiting advisers to solicit investments in order to buy the assets and capital stock of Integrity Capital Inc., prosecutors said.
Between September 2009 and December 2011 Linton received nearly $2.8 million in investment funds from the investors. The money was paid to Linton's law firm and the majority of the funds were deposited in to Linton's Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA).
Linton induced the investors to sign a loan and promissory note that falsely stated the purpose of the loan. The loan and agreement misrepresented to investors that the funds would be used for either the purchase of assets or capital stock of Integrity Capital Inc., or the purchase of government back vouchers and other commercial loans.
Linton mailed fraudulent letters with false account statements and sent checks that purported to be quarterly interest payments in attempt to convince the investors that the investments were legitimate.
"As soon as Linton received the investor funds, Linton began exhausting the funds for personal use," according to Mark's memo.
The most egregious example was the $560,000 purchase of a home in Alabaster in September 2009, Mark stated.
Linton also used the money for construction projects at his home, trips on private jets, the purchase of recreational vehicles and jewelry, according to Mark's memo. He also took "extravagant" vacations for him and his family to St. Lucia, St. Thomas, the SEC Championship football game in Atlanta, the BCS National Championship game in Arizona, and to New York for the Heisman Trophy ceremony.
Marks told Hopkins that even today Linton's Facebook page still had a photo of him and his son with Cam Newton at the ceremony, along with other vacation photos.
"In some instances, Linton made personal representations to the victims and immediately turned his back and took the money and lived a fantasy life of luxury," Mark said in the memo.
Some of the investors Linton bilked had planned to use the investments for small renovations to their homes, as money for assisted living and medical conditions or simply to take their grandchildren on vacation, Mark stated.
Hopkins listened to three victims, including a retired Birmingham firefighter, who were swindled out of nearly $750,000. The retired firefighter said that after losing $300,000 of his retirement, he is now faced with the possibility of having to get a part-time job at the age of 70.
Assistant federal public defender Rick Burgess had asked for probation in the case so Linton could work to start paying back the money. He said that Linton was bi-polar, which would explain his behavior.
Linton in a written speech he read to the judge, apologized to the investors. He said at one point he tried to commit suicide. Linton also asked the judge not to put him in prison so he could continue mental health treatment.
Linton, who already has surrendered his law license, said he also has lost almost all his worldly possessions and his reputation.
Mark, however, told the judge that last year Linton was fired from a finance company for lying to clients and asking them to send him the money directly to him. She said if it had been successful, it would have been the same type of scheme he is charged with committing.
The FBI and Alabama Securities Commission investigated the case.
"Mr. Linton risked his clients' retirement funds, money for their children's education, and for their livelihood. His actions are a dishonor to those who practice law with the utmost commitment and integrity and the sentence handed down today recognizes his deplorable conduct," FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Schwein said Friday morning in a prepared statement.
U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance also said the victims in this case trusted would protect their investments. "Instead, he robbed them of their savings so he could live a fantasy life of luxury," she said.
Alabama Securities Commission Director Joe Borg said the commission expects the sentence "to send a powerful message that professional misconduct that causes damage to our citizens' financial security, and to public confidence in the integrity of the practice of law, will be dealt with swiftly and appropriately."
Linton is a former police officer who graduated from Troy University and the Birmingham School of Law. In 2008 he represented an Alabama booster, along with several other attorneys, and subpoenaed then-Tennessee head coach Phillip Fulmer during the Southeastern Conference's annual media days in Birmingham. In 2009 ran for the Alabama House of Representatives.
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