CLEVELAND (AP) - A northeast Ohio woman has been sentenced to nine years in prison for bilking $60 million from nearly 900 investors in a failed development project.
The Plain Dealer reports that 71-year-old Joanne Schneider pleaded guilty Monday to 11 felony counts. She'll get credit for the 2 years she's already served in jail.
The hearing settled a long-running dispute about how much time Schneider would spend in prison for the Ponzi scheme she ran with her husband, Alan. They had proposed a multimillion-dollar retail and entertainment development on the west side of Cleveland that was never built.
Alan Schneider pleaded guilty to securities and theft charges in 2009, and was put on probation. Prosecutors said he played a lesser role in the scam.