AUSTIN, Texas, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- A federal judge in Texas sentenced former football player Russell Erxleben to 90 months in prison for trading scams that bilked investors for nearly four years.
In Austin Monday, U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel said he would accept the terms of a December plea agreement in which Erxleben pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering, agreeing to serve 90 months in prison for each count and the sentences would run concurrently, the (Austin) American-Statesman reported.
Erxleben, a three-time All-American kicker at the University of Texas in the 1970s, told Yeakel he had ruined his reputation but was lucky to have a supportive family and wanted to do better.
"Frankly, I just blew it," he said. "I've done wrong, and I have to correct it."
"And I am ashamed," Erxleben said. "I am very ashamed."
The latest indictment charged that, from September 2005 to October 2009, Erxleben used three companies to promote phony investment opportunities, mainly in defaulted post-World War I German government gold bearer-bonds, the American-Statesman said. The bonds, issued by Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, could have historical value, but their financial merit has been questioned.
In 1999, he was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to federal conspiracy and securities fraud charges arising from a foreign currency trading scam in which he bilked more than $30 million from nearly 500 investors.
