NEW YORK – Hollywood money manager Ken Starr, whose clients included Uma Thurman, Natalie Portman, Martin Scorsese, Jim Wiatt and Sylvester Stallone, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for fraud, the New York Daily News reported.
He was also ordered to pay more than $29 million in restitution.
His sentencing Wednesday came after he pleaded guilty in September to charges of wire fraud, money laundering and investment adviser fraud, which meant he faced up to 12 1/2 years in prison.
Wesley Snipes and Annie Leibovitz were also among his well-known clients who he attracted by touting “sure deals.”
Starr, 67, who had a lavish lifestyle as a result of his dealings, apologized to his victims and appealed for leniency. He told Manhattan Federal Court judge Shira Scheindlin, “I stand before you a contrite, humiliated and ashamed man,” according to the Daily News.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara called the sentence “appropriate” and, according to the paper, said: “It sends a strong message to financial professionals who exploit their positions of trust for their own personal gain that, in the end, it is they who will pay.”
