BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The president of a failed southwest Idaho property management company has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison without the possibility of parole for defrauding investors.
District Judge B. Lynn Winmill sentenced 66-year-old Douglas Swenson on Wednesday. Former DBSI legal counsel Mark Ellison was sentenced to five years. A restitution amount will be set later.
Winmill said he didn’t believe the defendants set out to defraud their clients, but said they concealed the company’s financial problems and continued to accept new investments when they knew the company was failing.
DBSI once managed 280 shopping centers, office and other commercial buildings in 34 states. It filed for bankruptcy in 2008. More than $102 billion in claims were filed in bankruptcy court.
Attorneys say Swenson and Ellison plan to appeal their convictions.
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