An entrepreneur who swindled several car dealers out of more than $1 million through his company, , was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday.
Adelbert Bassford, 53, faced a range of punishment, from probation to nearly 400 years in prison.
Bassford was convicted on 36 counts of fraud, theft, forgery and racketeering.
was supposed to be an affinity program where customers could earn points toward car purchases.
Prosecutor Joe Morales said that in seven years or prosecuting white collar crime, “I’ve never seen anybody as sneaky and devious as this defendant.”
Bassford cheated local car dealers who invested in Autobucks, including Dealin’ Doug Moreland, who was bilked out of $300,000.
Moreland asked Denver District Judge Catherine Lemon to impose a tough sentence.
“We trusted him and he violated it and he should pay the price for that,” Moreland said.
Bassford told the judge that he made mistakes, but that he did not intend to harm investors and should be given a shot at probation so he could work and pay people back.
“There is no doubt I made huge errors in judgment,” he said. “I don’t want to sell a share of stock and I never want another investor for the rest of my life.”
Lemon said she was disappointed that Bassford did not express remorse for his crimes and that the fraud in his case was “so clear and so brazen.”
