CLARKSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — A Florida man was sentenced to more than seven years in federal prison Friday for defrauding more than a dozen investors out of nearly $5 million.
Phillip W. Conley of Jacksonville, Florida, was convicted in federal court in Clarksburg for securities fraud.
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Conley, 38, admitted to conspiring 18 people between 2014 and 2019. The victims were from several states, including West Virginia.
Prosecutors said Conley’s investment brokerage license was suspended in December 2015 but he identified himself as an investment advisor. Conley sent false statements to victims claiming a positive rate of return on their investments, even though he invested little or no money.
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Instead, he spends most of his money on private jet flights, expensive meals, clothes, jewelry, housing, and living expenses. Conley’s victims included small business owners along with churches in Charleston, Parkersburg and Morgantown, prosecutors said.
Conley had previously agreed to forfeit the property acquired from the proceeds of the crime.
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https://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2021/12/04/jacksonville-man-sentenced-for-wv-investment-scheme/ Florida man convicted of participating in West Virginia investment show – CBS Pittsburgh
