More news about convicted Ogden Ponzi scammer Val Southwick in this morning's Salt Lake Tribune. From this morning's Tom Harvey story:
In an unusually harsh decision, the state Board of Pardons is leaving the convicted operator of a giant Ponzi scheme in prison for at least 17 years.Although neither the Tribune nor the Board of Pardons mentions it as part of the "official" rationale for the Board's decision to lock Southwick up and throw away the key, we believe it's fair to infer that there's a special local lesson here for Utah scammers who would abuse their positions of ecclesiastical trust and prey upon unwary victims from LDS wardhouses. The 800-pound gorilla has a mighty long political reach; and it's apparent that Val Southwick (and other potential wardhouse scammers) were just delivered an equally mighty mighty thump in the head -- with a clear message attached: Wardhouse scamming is declared firmly off-limits, capice?
With his next parole hearing set for 2025, that means 63-year-old former Ogden businessman Val E. Southwick might spend the rest of his life in prison, serving out nine consecutive terms for defrauding about 800 investors, many of them elderly, out of about $180 million.
In its rationale for denying Southwick parole, the five-member board cited abuse of a position of trust, the number of victims and the extent of the harm done them. The 17 years set for Southwick's prison sentence is just three years short of a typical prison term of an inmate convicted of first-degree felony murder, according to parole board statistics from a 2006 study.
Comments?
