interactive.wsj.com
July 26, 2001
Former Penny Stock Promoter
Receives Nine Years in Prison
Associated Press
TRENTON, N.J. -- Former penny stock promoter Robert E. Brennan was
sentenced to about nine years in prison Thursday for bankruptcy fraud and
obstructing justice by faking evidence during his trial.
Mr. Brennan had been facing an eight-year sentence for his original
conviction. But U.S. District Judge Garrett E. Brown ruled earlier Thursday
that Mr. Brennan also obstructed justice, making him eligible for an
additional two years under federal sentencing guidelines.
Lawyers argued over the obstruction of justice
charge for two hours Thursday morning.
Federal prosecutors said Mr. Brennan gave
them letters shortly before his trial on bankruptcy fraud and money
laundering charges. The letters, written to Peter Bond, a money manager
who was the government's key witness at the trial, outlined a purported deal
in which several investors, but not Mr. Brennan, would buy a luxurious
Turkish cruise ship. Mr. Brennan wrote that he was traveling to various
destinations to find ports of call for the vessel.
Prosecutors allege the letters were created to give Mr. Brennan an alibi for
charges of money laundering.
Mr. Brennan, 57, was convicted in April of seven of the 13 counts against
him. He has been held without bail at the Monmouth County Jail in Freehold
since April 17.
Also on Thursday, Judge Brown ordered that Mr. Brennan undergo five
years of supervision upon his release from prison and pay $4 million in
restitution.
A former resident of Colts Neck, N.J., Mr. Brennan became widely known
in the 1980s through television commercials for his former flagship
brokerage, First Jersey Securities Inc., stepping off a helicopter and urging
viewers to "come grow with us."
He filed for bankruptcy protection just before he was due to pay millions to
compensate First Jersey investors who U.S. District Judge Richard Owen in
Manhattan determined were cheated. That judgment, won by the Securities
and Exchange Commission, is now more than $78 million.
That ruling led to a series of legal setbacks for Mr. Brennan, who was
barred from the securities industry.
KJC |
