After 2 years on lam, Rothstein’s ex-ally jailed
Afriend of notorious Ponzi king Scott Rothstein vanished and managed to elude capture for more than two years.
Eddy Marin once tried to help Rothstein hide more than $1 millionworth of jewelry from federal investigators— and faced being sent to prison for securities fraud.
As a federal fugitive, Marin remained free until Tuesday night when authorities finally tracked him down to a Fort Lauderdale neighborhood. Now back in custody, he’ll be sent to federal prison to serve a 17-year sentence.
Authorities remained mum Wednesday about what Marin was up during his time on the lam. He last was expected in court on July 23,2018, after testing positive for drug use while awaiting sentencing on federal fraud charges. Rather than explain his drug test results to a judge, he skipped the hearing and hadn’t been seen since.
He was captured in the 2600 block of Northeast 30th Street, a neighborhood
two blocks south of Oakland Park Boulevard and east of Federal Highway.
At the time of Marin’s disappearance, he had already pleaded guilty his role in a securities fraud scheme executed in part while he was already in prison for helping Roth stein, a hot shot lawyer brought down after his $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme collapsed in late 2009.
Marin conspired to help Roth stein jewelry hide more than $1 million worth of jewelry from federal investigators, prosecutors said.
For his role, Marin was sentenced to 10 months for conspiracy to obstruct justice.
“I promise you I will never be in front of you again for any reason,” he told the judge at the time. By then Marin had already racked up a lengthy criminal record involving narcotics trafficking, money laundering, counterfeiting and obstruction of justice.
As prosecutors expected, his noble promise to stay out of trouble didn’t last.
Prosecutors said Marin also operated a“pump and dump” stock fraud scheme, gaining control of a beauty supply company and issuing news releases inflating the company’s value.
When the stock price rose, Marin and his co-conspirators sold their shares formore than $1million.
He pleaded guilty to the securities fraud charges inMay2018 and was sentenced later that July, after his disappearance.
“I can tell you we’ve been working hard to locate him,” said U.S. Marshals spokesman Rob Gonzalez, who declined to provide details about how Marin was tracked down or where he has been hiding.
Marin remained in a Pompano Beach jail Wednesday afternoon but was scheduled to be transferred to a Miami jail and appear in federal courton Thursday, Gonzalez said.
Marin also faces a possible charge related to skipping out on his bond, which carries a maximumsentence of 10 years.
The Miami attorney listed on Marin’s federal paperwork did not return a phone call seeking comment Wednesday.