It may well be that 2009 was the "Year of the Ponzi Scheme," and Judge Gould makes a reference to exactly that in the second footnote of his opinion. But if so, 2010 may well be the "Year of Huge Sentences." As, this morning, the Ninth Circuit affirms not only the convictions of Randall Treadway, Ricky Sluder and Larry Saturday for running a $40 million Ponzi scheme, but also Judge Whelan's 300-, 188-, and 63-month sentences (respectively) for the trio.
For us non-guidelines people, that's 25 years for Treadwell, 15+ for Sluder, an a cool 5 for Saturday.
Which reminds us that just as participating in a Ponzi scheme is all fun until it collapses, running one is similarly fun only until you get caught.
