Nicole Murphy scammer to be sentenced
The con man who fleeced the exwife of Eddie Murphy out of $10 million — and then went on to swipe $11.25 million from an investor group — is scheduled for sentencing on Monday for both frauds.
Prosecutors are asking a federal judge in Sacramento, Calif., to send Troy Stratos, 50, away for at least 30 years — while his defense team is asking for a mere slap on the wrist, a sentence of 7¹/4-to-9 years.
Stratos was set to go on trial last August for the Nicole Murphy caper but dramatically copped a plea just days before a jury was to be picked.
The trial was set to feature as witnesses for the prosecution several of Nicole Murphy’s celebrity friends — including Michael Strahan, the former NFL star and “Good Morning America” co-host.
Strahan dated Murphy for five years, and broke up in 2014 over a prenup.
Nicole and Eddie Murphy divorced in 2005, resulting in a $15 million settlement for the ex-wife.
Stratos, who grew up with Nicole Murphy in Sacramento, promised to invest $10 million of the settlement cash — but wound up spending it himself.
His August guilty plea came 15 months after a Sacramento jury found the hustler guilty of defrauding a Philadelphia group out of millions it thought was investing in pre-initial public offering of Facebook shares.
Stratos, under the name of “Ken Davis,” told the investor group he was acting as the agent for Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who was looking to sell some of his Facebook holdings.
That was a lie and Stratos kept the purloined cash.
Prosecutors also are asking the judge to order Stratos to pay his victims $23.2 million in restitution.