Man Sentenced To Prison In $3.5 Ponzi Scheme

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say a man who pleaded guilty in a $3.5 million Ponzi scheme has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

The Colorado attorney general's office said Monday that 47-year-old Richard Dorr Novaria was also ordered to pay $3.48 million in restitution.

A co-defendant, 38-year-old Jeremy Michael Hart, was sentenced in January to nine years in prison. He was ordered to pay $3.4 million restitution.

Novaria lived in Greeley and Hart in Fort Collins at the time of their indictment in May 2010.

They were accused of soliciting the money from 29 investors with promised returns of 7 to 14 percent. Both were accused of using the money for personal expenses and to pay earlier investors.

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