Matthew Hutcheson was convicted of 17 counts of wire fraud after prosecutors accused him of raiding pension funds to buy luxury cars, remodel his home and acquire the struggling ski and golf resort. Prosecutors are fighting for Hutcheson to receive a sentence of more than 17 years in prison after taking $5 million from retirees.
Federal prosecutors are arguing that a man who unsuccessfully sought to win control of Tamarack (Idaho) Resort using millions of dollars stolen from retirees should spend more than 17 years in prison, the Associated Press reported.
Matthew Hutcheson, an independent trustee who once oversaw the retirement plans of small businesses, is due to be sentenced on July 31, the AP reported.
In April, Hutcheson was convicted of 17 counts of wire fraud after prosecutors accused him of raiding pension funds to buy luxury cars, remodel his home and acquire Tamarack Resort, a struggling ski and golf resort 90 miles north of Boise, the AP reported.
In a sentencing recommendation on Wednesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ray Patricco described Hutcheson as an unrepentant schemer willing to go to any lengths to deceive retirees and steal their savings, the AP reported.
“These victims are faced with the prospect of working well into their ‘golden years’ to restore their lost retirement funds,” Patricco wrote. “Their retirement standard of living will be significantly compromised.”
The AP’s efforts to reach Hutcheson, who is free pending his sentencing hearing, were unsuccessful.
Prosecutors said Hutcheson took $2 million from one fund to buy cars, all-terrain vehicles and remodel his home, and $3 million from another account to purchase the mortgage on Tamarack’s Robert Trent Jones II-designed golf course, part of his strategy to win control of the whole resort, the AP reported.
Linda Munch, a 53-year-old mother of two from Durango, Colo., said she lost $67,000, a quarter of her savings, in the scam, the AP reported.
“I expect this thief to be sentenced to the fullest extent of the law,” Munch wrote in a victim statement to the court in May.
Hutcheson, meanwhile, insists he’s the victim of a government vendetta, according to court documents filed by the government, the AP reported.
Among the documents was an 83-page manifesto—distributed by Hutcheson to friends, business associates and members of his church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—in which he’s labeled a “political dissenter” being targeted by the government for threatening to expose a U.S. Department of Labor scandal, the AP reported.
The documents show Hutcheson’s refusal to take responsibility, Patricco said.
“The baseless and hyperbolic accusations the defendant levels in these documents reveal a man who has absolutely no respect for this prosecution, the judicial process, the judiciary, or the laws that he broke,” Patricco wrote.
Hutcheson has had three court-appointed defenders since his grand jury indictment in April 2012. Two lawyers left the case after their relationship with Hutcheson soured. His latest, defense attorney Ryan P. Henson appointed just this month, didn’t return a call seeking comment, the AP reported.
Hutcheson will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge William Fremming Nielsen, the AP reported.
Tell Us What You Think!
You must be logged in to post a comment.