No prison sentence for Santa Fe con man
Judge orders he pay restitution to those he bilked out of more than $1M
A Santa Fe “con man” who stole more than $1 million from investors escaped a prison sentence, and instead was sentenced to probation and was required to pay back his victims.
U.S. District Judge Judith Herrera handed down the five-year probation sentence on Thursday, in part, because defendant Matthew Sample is expected to make $200,000 this year in his current job, enabling him to make restitution.
Sample, who now resides in San Diego, previously pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges. He bilked six sets of victims out of their money, which in some cases had been put aside for retirement and college accounts, to fund a lavish lifestyle. Prosecutors said he ran his schemes roughly from 2008 to 2014.
“I’m not going to enjoy making these phone calls to the victims,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Fred Federici said after the sentencing. His office had sought more than six years in
prison for Sample.
Sample’s former Santa Fe home had real gold woven into the wallpaper, and the home was featured on the show “House Hunters” on HGTV, where the show’s host described it as the “ultimate party house.” Prosecutors included pictures of him on yachts, at ball games and at amusement parks in his sentencing memorandum.
“The label ‘con man’ has been applied to you, Mr. Sample, and I want to say I understand that label,” Herrera said. “You did your best to earn that label.”
But while awaiting sentencing, Sample obtained a high-paying job at mortgage data company SettlementOne and has been promoted several times. He has paid more than $70,000 in restitution to victims in recent years. and he is expected to make more than $200,000 this year, according to a letter his supervisor submitted to the court.
Herrera said she expects Sample to live frugally until his victims are repaid.
“If you didn’t have your current job and the ability to make these payments, I might be doing something differently,” she said. “I don’t think you deserve to have fun for the next few years.”
Federal prosecutors had requested a six-and-a-half-year prison sentence for Sample in addition to restitution. That was at the low end of federal sentencing guidelines.
Federici said in court that Sample damaged the public’s trust and earned a prison sentence. He said a sentence of only probation would amount to Sample’s buying his way out of prison.
“This isn’t a civil case where restitution clears the decks. This is a criminal case,” he said.
Sample convinced his victims to give him money to invest in a fund he created, but it was in fact a scheme in which he took money from the fund or other trading accounts to pay for his lavish lifestyle, according to court records. To cover up his scheme, Sample moved money around among his clients, mixed it with his own, held weekly phone conferences and quarterly meetings with clients and sent them false statements that showed their accounts were profitable. He even created a fake website about the investment fund.
Ray Twohig, Sample’s attorney, said his client has changed his ways.
Sample said during a hearing earlier this year that he was in an abusive relationship and was using drugs and alcohol when he started to steal.
“I would say what Mr. Sample is trying to do is work his way out of the problems he created for himself,” he said.
Sample declined to comment after the hearing.