Woman gets 6½ years for role in Ponzi scheme
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – A federal judge has sentenced a woman suspected of operating a Ponzi scheme based in Mississippi and California that bilked investors out of more than $2 million.
U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced 54-year-old Gina Palasini to 6½ years in prison, which she will serve alongside a 10-year state term for felony pretense in Wayne County that involved more than $200,000 in stolen funds.
The Clarion-Ledger reports Aycock also ordered Palasini to pay full restitution.
In addition to her federal and Wayne County sentences, this year Palasini was sentenced to three years in jail in Sunflower County for a bad check charge and 10 years, with three suspended, for a false pretense charge in Pike County. Palasini will serve the Pike and Wayne County sentences consecutively.
