Amish man gets 6 1/2 years in $17 million fraud scheme

Amish man gets 6 1/2 years in $17 million fraud scheme

YOUNGSTOWN

A federal judge has sentenced a 78-year-old Amish man, who defrauded Amish investors in 29 states out of nearly $17 million, to 6 1/2 years in prison followed by one year of supervised release.

Judge Benita Y. Pearson of U.S. District Court imposed the sentence today on Monroe L. Beachy of Sugarcreek. The U.S. Bureau of Prisons will tell Beachy to self-report to a U.S. Marshals office or directly to a federal prison in the next few weeks.

Beachy had pleaded guilty in March to a single-count mail fraud indictment charging him with promising investors safe securities, but moving money to riskier investments.

Citing his age and physical ailments, Beachy’s lawyer, J. Gerald Ingram of Boardman, called for Beachy to be sentenced to home confinement and community service.

Beachy simply wanted the investments to grow faster for the benefit of the investors, and he had no personal profit motive, Ingram said. Beachy has no prior criminal record, Ingram added.

However, Linda H. Barr, the assistant U.S. Attorney prosecuting the case, cited the need to deter others from committing similar crimes and urged the judge to sentence Beachy to 151 to 188 months in prison. Barr said Beachy defrauded about 3,200 investors.

She added that the federal prison system is capable of treating Beachy’s heart disease, diabetes and other ailments.

For more on this story, see Thursday’s Vindicator or vindy.com