Lance K. Poulsen, a founder of National Century Financial Enterprises, had nothing to say as he stood in prison garb and shackles

Lance K. Poulsen, a founder of National Century Financial Enterprises, had nothing to say as he stood in prison garb and shackles before U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley and heard that he'd likely spend the rest of his life in federal prison.
"Mr. Poulsen was the architect of the fraud," Marbley said before sentencing the 65-year-old Poulsen to 30 years. The scheme he masterminded stole $2.4 billion from investors, shut down 275 health-care providers and enriched its conspirators by millions of dollars.Poulsen was the last major executive of the Dublin-based company to be sentenced, and he got the stiffest term.Marbley also sentenced National Century founder Rebecca S. Parrett, who disappeared after her trial last March, to 25 years for nine fraud-related charges yesterday. Officials said the hunt for Parrett, 60, continues."For the victims in this case, with these verdicts, there is a sense of justice," said an exuberant Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Squires after five hours of sentencing hearings yesterday.Those actions ended the bulk of a several-year investigation into National Century fraud.Poulsen, who was chief executive officer of National Century, was convicted in October of fraud and money laundering. He also was found guilty last year of witness tampering and obstruction of justice, along with his friend Karl A. Demmler, for trying to persuade key prosecution witness Sherry Gibson to feign amnesia when questioned in court.Gibson was wearing a wire during conversations with Demmler, who owned the Bogey Inn restaurant in Dublin.Yesterday, Marbley sentenced Demmler, 57, to seven years in prison for his actions. The judge had sentenced Poulsen to 10 years in that case, and that sentence will be served at the same time as his 30-year sentence.Demmler, also in shackles and prison garb, apologized in court for his actions and statements, which included saying that he'd like to cut up a bankruptcy judge "and feed him to the fish."He said his comments had been "taken entirely out of context" and that he had been "misled" by many people."I don't believe I was evil in this case," he said.Of the three sentenced yesterday, Demmler was the only one whose friends and family made statements in court.
His mother, Norma Demmler, 76, begged the judge to give him probation."I just want my son home. I hope you can help me," she said.However, Marbley said that although Demmler was "used and manipulated" by Poulsen, his "culpability was not inconsequential or slight" and his offense "goes to the very core of our system of justice."Demmler will get credit for 18 months in jail and on house arrest.The judge saved his harshest words for Poulsen, who said throughout his trial that he knew nothing of the fraud. Poulsen blamed investors for not catching the illegal acts."That's like the wolf blaming the hens for getting out of the hen house," Marbley chided him. "Nothing happened at National Century without your blessing."Marbley said it's impossible to know why Poulsen, a successful entrepreneur with children and a wife, went down the wrong path."Avarice and greed apparently took hold and clouded his judgment," the judge said. "He amassed significant wealth and thousands of investors suffered."Besides the prison time, the sentence for Poulsen and the others found guilty in the fraud case includes restitution of $2.4 billion.Squires said the federal government will be aggressively seeking that money by seizing goods, property, investments and pensions from the guilty. This week, the government seized nearly $400,000 from an account Parrett had in Arizona.In sentencing Parrett, Marbley said she is the only defendant in his 12 years on the bench who absconded after he presided over their trial."I believe, as justice is always served, she will be found," he said.National Century bought accounts receivable from health-care providers and charged a fee to collect what was owed. It raised money by selling bonds to investors. The fraud took place for seven years, beginning in 1995, when the company paid out millions of dollars without purchasing the accounts to back the loans. The company went bankrupt in 2002.
Squires said agents from the FBI and several other agencies "sifted through a warehouse of documents" to piece together the evidence in the case.Marbley said he meted out long sentences not just as punishment for those involved but to discourage other white-collar criminals.One National Century defendant, Brian J. Stucke, pleaded guilty to one count in 2003 and has not yet been sentenced.