New York Post

Nicole Murphy scammer to be sentenced

- By RICHARD MORGAN rmorgan@nypost.com

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.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States