A Larimer County judge has sentenced a Fort Collins man to 12 years in prison for his role in a $5.7 million investment-fraud scheme.
Phillip Trujillo, 62, defrauded 70 investors with promises that their investments would be free from risk and generate generous returns, according to the indictment. Trujillo did not disclose to investors that their investments were being used to fund unsecured promissory notes and to help pay legal fees related to those notes after they were in default. Trujillo also failed to disclose commissions paid to himself and personal loans he issued to himself using investors’ funds.
Trujillo’s codefendants, David Piatt and Timothy Burk, each pleaded guilty to securities fraud and received one-year deferred sentences and agreed to pay $1.2 million in restitution.
