Father Previously Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison in $30+ Million Scheme

Two daughters of a Rialto man who previously was sent to prison for crimes related to his fraudulent operation of an income tax preparation business have both been sentenced to 72 months in federal prison for their roles in a scheme to defraud the Internal Revenue Service out of more than $30 million.
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Federal Prison Sentence to Run Consecutively to 16-Year State Prison Term

An Ecuadorian citizen who lived in Los Angeles was sentenced today to 25 years in federal prison for producing and possessing child pornography, a sentence that will run consecutively to a 16-year term the defendant received in state court for sexually abusing a young girl.
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In what is believed to be the longest sentence ever handed down in a white-collar case in this district, the mastermind of a Riverside-based Ponzi scheme that collected well over $60 million from hundreds of investors – and caused more than $39 million in losses – was sentenced today to 100 years in federal prison.

Richard Monroe Harkless, 65, who lived in Riverside when he ran the scheme through a company he called MX Factors from 2000 until late 2003, was sentenced this morning by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips in federal court in Riverside.
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A Fontana woman has been sentenced to one year in federal prison after pleading guilty in a scheme in which she embezzled nearly a quarter million dollars from a Los Angeles non-profit that provides shelter to homeless women and children.

Barbara Alvarado, 32, was sentenced Monday afternoon by United States District Judge Christina A. Snyder in Los Angeles. In addition to the 12-month prison term, Judge Snyder ordered Alvarado to serve three years of supervised release, which will include one year of home detention.
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A former Huntington Park Police Officer who for a time worked on federal drug trafficking investigations was sentenced today to 15 years in federal prison for stealing cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana from narcotics dealers and then selling the drugs for personal profit.

Sergeant Alvaro Murillo, 45, of West Covina, who was called El Padrino (The Godfather) by his co-conspirators, was sentenced late this morning by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson.
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Five people related to an extended Guatemalan family were sentenced to federal prison late yesterday, all receiving multi-decade sentences for their roles in an international sex trafficking ring that lured young Guatemalan women and girls into the Los Angeles area and forced them into prostitution.

“In this disturbing case, the defendants lured young, uneducated and impoverished women and girls to the United States, where they were forced to work as prostitutes in terrifying conditions,” said United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. “There were at least 10 victims who were forced into becoming prostitutes under a variety of threats, as well as actual physical attacks that included rapes.”
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An Orange County man who admitted running a multi-faceted fraud scheme that bilked hundreds of victims out of approximately $55 million was sentenced today to 27 years in federal prison.

Colin Nathanson, 62, who lived in Coto De Caza until his arrest in 2005, was sentenced to 324 months in prison by United States District Judge Cormac J. Carney. Prior to his arrest, Nathanson was the president and chief executive officer of Giant Golf Company and Play Big Enterprises, Inc., both of which sold golf clubs and golf accessories out of Irvine and Rancho Santa Margarita.

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A Newport Beach man convicted of falsely claiming to be an attorney to courts, real lawyers and paying clients has been sentenced to an additional two years in federal prison for again posing as a lawyer only days after he completed a seven-year prison term.

Harold Goldstein, 64, was sentenced yesterday afternoon by United States District Judge David O. Carter, who imposed the maximum penalty for the violation of supervised release.
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A Glendale man was sentenced today to 87 months in federal prison for orchestrating a $14 million Ponzi scheme, one of the three frauds that led him to plead guilty in three separate cases earlier this year.

Antoine David Haroutunian, 47, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Percy Anderson in relation to the Ponzi scheme. In addition to the prison term, Judge Anderson ordered Haroutunian to pay nearly $10.7 million in restitution, including an initial payment of more than $850,000 that is due immediately.
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