A Madison man drew a two-year sentence Tuesday for an investment scam that bilked investors of more than $675,000, federal prosecutors say.
Hartford U.S. District Judge Robert N. Chatigny sentenced Thomas F. Donnelly to serve the term, following by three years of supervised release, the Connecticut U.S. Attorney David Fein’s office said.
Donnelly pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud last December, prosecutors said.
According to court documents and testimony, Donnelly, 58, solicited investors from June 2006 to July 2008 using an entity he set up, Shoreline Index Partners LP.
He baited them, prosecutors said, with an investment prospectus that falsely claimed he had received a significant return on his investment.
In all, Donnelly collected $675,000 from four investors, but invested just $175,000 with a Chicago brokerage clearing house, authorities said. The rest he used to pay the mortgage on his Madison home, among other personal uses.
In addition, Donnelly lost about $88,000 through securities trades he made, authorities said.
He has since fully repaid his investors, they said.
