Neulan Midkiff, the minister, will serve more time than the fraud's ringleader.

Sentenced Forest Lake minister to 15 years in prison for his role in a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme Thursday, but he wasn't happy about it. Davis, Minnesota's chief federal judge, upbraided the U.S. Justice Department for its handling of a case in which Neulan Midkiff, the minister, will serve more time than the fraud's ringleader.Terrence Correll, architect of the Ponzi scheme that bilked 519 people of up to $390 million, received a 12-year term.Under the sentencing guidelines, Davis said, "the more you steal, the better off you are." Midkiff, 66, wept as he apologized for his part in the scheme, although he said that he did not realize at the time he was committing fraud.Davis expressed doubt. "You can't hide behind being an unsophisticated person," he said. Midkiff was blamed for at least $18 million lost in the scam."This is such a difficult sentence," said Davis, recalling the testimony of victims who were ruined by the venture. "I heard all the pain and agony."But he called it "absurd" that under sentencing guidelines, Midkiff faced significantly more prison time than the leaders of Enron and WorldCom faced for larger crimes.Davis criticized the Justice Department for having the cases tried in different states. Correll pleaded guilty in Atlanta."It could have been handled in Minnesota," Davis told Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Rank.While longer than Correll's, Midkiff's sentence was shorter than it could have been. Sentencing guidelines called for 27 to 33 years. "And that would be totally inappropriate," Davis said.Midkiff was convicted in August of 21 counts of mail and wire fraud and tax evasion. His partner Jerry Watkins has pleaded guilty to fraud and testified against Midkiff.