Ex-Stanford executive sentenced for $7B swindle
HOUSTON - A judge in Texas has sentenced one of the last two defendants convicted for helping disgraced financier R. Allen Stanford bilk investors out of more than $7 billion in one of the biggest Ponzi schemes in U.S. history.
Gilbert Lopez Jr., the ex-chief accounting officer for one of Stanford's companies, was sentenced to 20 years in prison during a hearing Thursday in Houston federal court.
Lopez's attorney says his client is remorseful for investor losses.
Another defendant, Mark Kuhrt, is set to be sentenced later Thursday.
Prosecutors say Lopez and Kuhrt helped hide Stanford's misuse of investor funds. Stanford was convicted last year on 13 fraud-related counts and sentenced to 110 years in prison.
Two other former executives with Stanford's now dismantled business empire were sentenced previously.
