DOJ wants James Merrill behind bars for ten years
Any notion that James Merril might get off lightly for cooperating with authorities has been dashed, following the filing of a ten-year recommended prison sentence.
And that’s with full consideration of his cooperation.
As per a sentencing memorandum filed last Thursday;
Merrill paid himself $4.5 million, even, as prosecutors alleged, when he knew the risks and the flaws of the TelexFree system. But prosecutors spared him a stiffer sentence in the plea deal, they said, because Wanzeler played a “greater role” in the scheme.
The contents of Merrill’s plea deal are sealed and to date we don’t know any specifics. I think it goes without saying though that Merrill has given authorities anything and everything he has on his partner, Carlos Wanzeler.
“It is not an exaggeration to say that Merrill and co-defendant Carlos Wanzeler destroyed the lives of thousands of people the world over” prosecutors said.
Wanzeler meanwhile remains a fugitive in hiding in his native Brazil. The US doesn’t have an extradition treaty with Brazil, so how and when Wanzeler will return to the US to face justice has yet to play out.
In 2014 Wanzeler’s lawyer told the media he would “definitely stay in Brazil”. Whether recent efforts by US authorities to strip Wanzeler of his illegally obtained wealth might change that is unclear.
Merrill plead guilty to wire fraud last October and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 22nd.
In related news, a Brazilian court has ordered Ympactus (TelexFree’s local name in Brazil) to reimburse two of its victims for R$64,700 ($20,926 USD).
TelexFree argued their assets were frozen so they couldn’t pay the victims even if they lost. The Judge rejected that argument and awarded the victims compensation and legal costs.
Update 23rd March 2017 – Merrill has been sentenced to six years in prison.
Well, the authorities was good with merrill. Wanzeler can easily get 20 years in jail. So merrill, with all their help win 10 years! Was a good deal 😀 And yes, Merrill get “only” 4.5 millions. The others get a lot more!
Hey, Oz, get your popcorn ready:
Source (in Portuguese): gazetaweb.globo.com/portal/noticia.php?c=29734
Thanks for forwarding that Diego.
Not so much a popcorn story as depressing :(. There will be no “lulz we didn’t know what we were doing” defense for Wanzeler when the time comes.
Turns out he got 6 years.
Serious? Damn, I was right on the money.
Yep good guess with that one Oz. So i’m going to assume when Wanzeler is caught he will be facing between 15-20 years and what is your guess for Charles Scoville?
Scoville’s sentence if criminal charges are brought forward depends on if he pleads guilty or not.
If he does I’d estimate an “Achieve Community” equivalent sentence of a few years. If he goes to trial anywhere up to five years.
But it’s safe to say those are his only 2 choices seeing as he was the main figure in Traffic Monsoon? Could get time off for good behaviour for ratting out Gantz 😛
Nup. Merill ratted out Wanzeler, still got prison time.
Johnson ratted out Barnes, still got prison time.
If you’re running the Ponzi in any capacity and criminal charges are filed, you’re going to prison.