ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — A federal judge has sentenced the founder of a Minnesota alternative energy firm to 25 years in prison for defrauding investors.
Former Bixby Energy Systems CEO Robert Walker was sentenced Thursday. Prosecutors had sought a 30-year sentence for the 72-year-old Walker, while defense attorneys argued for a sentence just shy of six years.
The Star Tribune (https://strib.mn/1rorqhu ) reports U.S. District Judge Susan Richard Nelson called Walker’s crime “a magnificent fraud.”
Prosecutors said Walker cheated 1,800 investors out of $57 million on the promise his company could convert coal to natural gas.
In March, a jury found Walker guilty of defrauding investors, tax evasion, witness tampering and conspiracy. The company folded in 2012, a year after two Bixby directors sued to oust Walker.
Walker contended he never intended to cheat anyone.
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Information from: Star Tribune, https://www.startribune.com
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