A politically connected south suburban man was sentenced today to 15 years in prison for operating a real estate investment scheme that bilked more than 60 victims in three states of $10 million.
Lee Anglin, a onetime protege of former Chicago Ald. Edward Vrdolyak, pleaded no contest last year to charges stemming from the scheme. His sentencing was delayed as he challenged prosecutors on issues including how much was stolen, the number of victims and whether he had cooperated with authorities.
Federal prosecutors sought a prison sentence of more than 20 years. In addition to 15 years behind bars and three years of supervision, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered Anglin to pay $9.8 million in restitution. He has been in custody since 2006.
Advertising in newspapers, Anglin found willing investors to buy securities that he said were backed by real estate. But in some cases, he sold the same properties over and over, according to prosecutors. Sometimes the properties didn't even exist. In other cases, the commercial buildings he sold were little more than abandoned structures.
"Anglin ran essentially a Ponzi scheme, using investor funds to provide returns to earlier investors, claiming these funds constituted returns on investments from a particular property investment," prosecutors said in court filings.
FBI agent Ryan McDonald testified Monday that he traced 64 victims involved in the scam who lost $10.2 million.
McDonald quoted a victim who lost $124,000 as saying, "I have come to the conclusion that Mr. Anglin was a pathological liar who came to believe his own lies."
Another couple lost their entire life savings, about $40,000, McDonald testified.
In 1994, Anglin won a Republican primary for state representative in a South Side district. After that, his relationship with Vrdolyak soured, and Anglin once accused an associate of Vrdolyak's of shooting at him.
Among the properties Anglin used in the scheme was a warehouse in Riverdale where mercury-laden light bulbs were illegally stored. Anglin told the Tribune he paid bribes to a government official to overlook the operation.
-- Ray Gibson
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