National Century crooks to be sentenced in July

[Demosthenes]

Monday, June 30, 2008 - 11:37 AM EDT
National Century execs set for prison sentencing
Business First of Columbus - by Kevin Kemper

Five executives convicted of taking part in a multibillion-dollar securities fraud at National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. will appear in court in late July to learn how much prison time they will serve for the crime.
Scheduled for sentencing hearings July 21-23 are Donald Ayers, Roger Faulkenberry, Randolph Speer, James Dierker and Jon Beacham, all former executives of the Dublin company that collapsed in 2002, touching off a string of failures among medical businesses it dealt with. U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley's sentencing order Friday came three months after the March convictions of Ayers, Faulkenberry, Speer and Dierker.
Those four face at least 20 years in prison, but Ayers faces a maximum of 55 years, Dierker faces as many 65 years, Faulkenberry up to 85 years and Speer as many as 140 years depending on how the penalties are stacked up.
Beacham will face less prison time. He pleaded guilty last year to a count each of securities fraud and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, then testified in the trial last winter against his former co-workers. He is looking at up to five years in prison with three years of supervised release, plus a $250,000 fine.
Rebecca Parrett, a co-founder of National Century, was also convicted in March but isn't scheduled for sentencing because the government doesn't know the 58-year-old's whereabouts. Parrett went missing March 27 after she failed to show for a court appearance and has been the subject of a government search ever since.
Ayers, 72, and the Speer, 57, are set to be sentenced July 21. Faulkenberry, 47, and Dierker, 40, will be sentenced July 22. Beacham, 41, is scheduled for sentencing July 23.
National Century financed health-care providers, specializing in buying their receivables at a discount for quick cash. It then packaged the receivables as asset-backed bonds and sold them to investors. When the company fell into bankruptcy, taking down other companies, the Department of Justice began looking into the failure. The government accused the executives of essentially running a massive Ponzi scheme that hurt investors.
Facing sentencing on other charges are Lance Poulsen, National Century's former CEO, and Karl Demmler, a Poulsen associate. Both were convicted in March of witness tampering and obstruction of justice in attempting to bribe a government witness to change her testimony.
Poulsen, 65, and Demmler, 57, face up to 55 years in prison on those convictions. But Poulsen may not be sentenced until later in the year because he faces an August trial on his alleged role in the National Century meltdown.