Legal Question in Securities Law in California

Re: Ponzi Sceme

Well, Bernard Madoff was just sentenced to 150 years by a Federal judge for his Ponzi scheme, but this is certainly unusual, involving consecutive running multiple maximum sentences.

At the other extreme, I can visualize a first offender with a relatively small-stakes Ponzi scheme and willing and able to make full restitution to his victims perhaps getting off with probation.

"Running a Ponzi scheme" is not a separately-defined crime in California, and it would be prosecuted and punished under some other suitable label such as grand theft, endless-chain scheme (Penal Code section 327) or securities fraud.

Sentencing in California (and in the Federal courts too) is an art rather than a science, and the judge will take into account many factors such as seriousness of the particular offense, the perpetrator's past record, number of offenses, likelihood of restitution, statutory guidelines or mandates, and the like. For example, PC 327 violations are punishable by up to a year in the county jail or 16 months, two years or three years in a state prison. Multiple offenses can draw multiple sentences, which can be ordered to run concurrently (lenient) or consecutively (harsh).