Perry sentencing on fraud counts set for June 23

Erica D. Johnson

Thursday, June 12, 2003 | 9:24 a.m.

A deaf 61-year-old woman who was bilked out of thousands of dollars by Franklyn Perry told a judge Wednesday that Perry should never be released from prison.

Judy Cardenas told District Judge Nancy Saitta that she and her 62-year-old husband, Michael, have struggled every since they invested $4,700 in Perry's pyramid scam.

"Franklyn Perry, you destroyed our lives and almost destroyed our marriage," Cardenas said from the witness stand, looking directly at Perry. "I hope you will stay in prison for the rest of your natural life."

Cardenas, who is deaf but reads lips, said she took out a second mortgage on her home to invest in the scam. The couple still are struggling to pay off the mortgage, she said.

"We almost lost our home," the Las Vegas resident said.

Cardenas' testimony was expected to come before Perry was sentenced on 15 securities fraud counts in the case. But Saitta postponed the sentencing until June 23 at the request of defense attorneys.

Perry's lawyer, Michael Cristalli, said he did not receive the Department of Parole and Probation's pre-sentencing report until Tuesday, and that he needed more time to review the document with his client.

Perry entered his guilty plea in April, admitting he tricked people into investing in a Ponzi scheme between December 2000 and July 2001.

Authorities estimate Perry received about $40 million from about 1,174 investors worldwide by telling investors he was loaning money to high-rolling gamblers who had hit their credit limits at local casinos.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped more than 500 securities fraud charges as well as a separate case in which Perry faced 48 sexual assault and child pornography counts stemming from phone calls Perry made to a teenage girl from jail.

Perry's plea agreement carries a stipulated prison sentence of 15 to 75 years, Chief Deputy District Attorney Christopher Laurent said.

When asked whether Perry could spend the rest of his life behind bars, Laurent replied, "that's the goal."

"He's a predator," he said. "These elderly people invest in this scheme and what do they get? A lifetime of trying to pay back a second mortgage."

Police recovered only $23 million from Perry's Las Vegas home.

More than $18 million of the money recovered was repaid to about 900 victims in a class action suit against Perry. Those represented received about half of their established claim value.

The plea deal also requires that Perry pay $157,000 in restitution. That money includes only the victims named in the counts to which Perry pleaded guilty, Laurent said.