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| Patrick Kiley |
A small-time Minneapolis
salesman who found his niche on the radio peddling investments in foreign
currencies was sentenced Monday to 20 years in federal prison for his role in a
$194 million Ponzi scheme that bilked more than 700 investors nationwide.
According to startribune.com, Patrick Kiley, 75, had
attracted 70 percent of the investors through his former radio program, “Follow
the Money,” which was broadcast on a Christian shortwave network and bought
time on about 200 stations at its peak. He appealed to listeners with a pitch
that fomented distrust of the U.S.
government and fanned fears about a cratering stock market.
But the investment product Kiley sold was a sham created by
his longtime sidekick, Trevor Cook, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison
after pleading guilty in 2010 to running a Ponzi scheme. Several other
participants in the scheme were sentenced in January to terms ranging from 7½
years to 30 years in prison.
Kiley has protested his innocence all along, claiming he was
duped just like the investors. Then in January, he managed to delay his
sentencing, accusing his attorney at the time of misconduct and ineffective
advocacy. Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis delayed the sentencing,
appointed new attorneys to represent Kiley and ordered an independent psychiatric
and physical evaluation.
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