Former Ohio resident sentenced for fraud, tax evasion

DAYTON (AP) — A former Cincinnati investment adviser now living in Seattle has been sentenced to eight years in prison for mail fraud and income-tax evasion and must pay more than $6 million to 14 victims.

A federal judge in Dayton sentenced 41-year-old William Appleton on Tuesday to eight years and a month on the fraud count and five years on the count of tax evasion. The sentences will be served concurrently.

Appleton pleaded guilty in March to the crimes involving investment firms he ran in Cincinnati between 2003 and 2007.

Authorities say Appleton used clients’ money for his personal living expenses and his companies’ operation. He lost the money he invested and concealed the losses from investors and tried to conceal income from the Internal Revenue Service.