Okun appeals 100-year sentence in massive fraud case

Credit: U.S. DISTRICT COURT

A video from Hugh Okun's lavish wedding was on file in court before his trial.

By: Frank Green | Richmond Times-Dispatch
Published: September 21, 2011

Edward Hugh Okun, a former Miami businessman whose $126 million fraud wiped out the savings of victims across the country, appealed his 100-year sentence today.

Okun used his Richmond-based Investment Properties of America and other companies to loot funds from customers legally deferring capital-gains taxes. The money was spent on an $8 million divorce, a 131-foot yacht, aircraft, jewelry and other luxuries.

He was convicted of 23 felonies in a three-week U.S. District Court jury trial in Richmond and U.S. District Judge Robert E. Payne imposed a sentence of 1,200 months in prison on Sept. 1, 2009. He is being held at a U.S. prison in Beaumont, Texas.

Okun, who with sentence reductions would be eligible for release in 2095, was not in the courtroom this morning when his lawyer, Andrew Protogyrou, argued his case before a three-judge panel of the 4^th U.S. Circuit of Appeals.

In court papers, Protogyrou argued that Okun’s sentence was greater than necessary and that Payne did not give appropriate consideration to his age, health and lack of a prior criminal record.

Following today's hearing, Protogyrou said he argued about the propriety of the April 27, 2007, search warrant of Okun’s Midlothian offices and that his indictment was flawed.

Protogyrou also argues in court papers that the sentence was excessive in light of Okun’s age, health problems, which include triple coronary bypass surgery in 1990, and his small prior criminal record – a driving under the influence charge in 1980.

But the government, represented by assistant U.S. attorneys Michael S. Dry and Jessica Aber Brumberg, countered in court filings that that Okun could have been sentenced to 400 years.

“Okun defrauded hundreds of victims of more than $126 million in order to fund his lavish lifestyle, and his crimes resulted in disastrous consequences for many of his victims,” wrote the U.S. Attorney’s office.

The prosecutors said Payne did consider Okun’s age, health and lack of a criminal record and they also cited Payne’s remarks at the time of sentencing: “The toll of human loss and misery and suffering that Mr. Okun’s unbridled greed produced is enormous.”