Boy band mogul gets 25 years

2008-05-22 11:32

Orlando - Boy band mogul Lou Pearlman, who launched the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, was sentenced to 25 years in prison on Wednesday for swindling investors and major US banks out of more than $300m.

In an audacious two-decade-long scam, Pearlman enticed individuals and banks to invest millions of dollars in two companies that existed only on paper and won the confidence of investors with strong but fake financial statements created by a fictitious accounting firm, according to his plea agreement.

US Judge G Kendall Sharp held up a book with letters from Pearlman's victims, saying they included "his family, his close friends and people in their 70s and 80s who have lost their life savings".

"So the sympathy factor doesn't run high with the court," Sharp said.

Pearlman, 53, unsuccessfully sought to delay his sentencing to allow time to launch his latest creation, European pop band US 5, in the United States and Asia.

Pearlman said he was developing US 5 at the time of his arrest and the bankruptcy trustees for his companies agreed he had the potential to earn "significant profits" on the band - money that could be used to pay restitution to his victims.

Pearlman proposed a plan for him to have supervised access to a telephone and internet connection while in custody to pursue the business plan.

Federal prosecutors opposed the plan, noting that Pearlman's fraud proved he could not be trusted in conducting business by phone or internet.

- Reuters