Sentencing for a wine futures operator that prosecutors said scammed millions from the rich and famous has been postponed until Monday.
Ronald Wallace, 49, ran his business from Basalt, Colo., a mountain town near Aspen. A judge in Los Angeles Monday heard testimony about Wallace’s health, which defense attorneys said should be taken into consideration in not sending him to prison.
Wallace could be eligible for 70 years in prison, but prosecutors have recommended seven to nine years behind bars.
“A prison sentence here would be cruel and would do no one any good,” Wallace’s attorney, Marilyn Bednarski, wrote in a sentencing memo dated Jan. 30. “It would potentially kill him, thereby making sure that no one will get repaid. Instead if he is left at home to do no more than work, be with his family and attend to his dire medical situation, his family and the victims benefit.”
Wallace’s operation collapsed in 2003. Hundreds claimed they were owed as much as $13 million in wines. Federal prosecutors eventually agreed that Wallace would be held liable for more than $2.5 million when he is scheduled to be sentenced Monday. As part of the deal, Wallace pleaded guilty in June 2005 to two counts of mail fraud, four counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Wine futures, an established yet unregulated system, allows customers to purchase a specific vintage years before it’s bottled and publicly released.
His clients included Guess? Inc. co-founders Paul and Maurice Marciano, Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer and “Rush Hour” movie producer Arthur Sarkissian.
