Man & Woman Steal Money in Investment Scam, He Gets 10 Years, She Gets...

...probation. Maybe there's more to the story than what the Asbury Park Press says in the article below, but it looks suspiciously like the female sentencing discount is in play again. In the story it appears that they were equal partners in the business and should have been sentenced equally--"Lafferty and Ross were managing partners and owners of Lafferty & Partners LLC." Even if that is not the case, there would have to be a hell of a disparity in their roles to justify 10 years vs. probation. From Woman gets probation in $276G scheme (9/15/08): A Pennsylvania woman was sentenced to five years of probation for her part in stealing more than $275,000 through an investment scam she and her boyfriend ran out of a Red Bank address. Vincella L. Ross, 39, of Green Lane, Pa., was also ordered to pay $276,566 in restitution under the sentence handed down by state Superior Court Judge Harry G. Carroll, sitting in Hackensack. She has been in the Bergen County Jail since Sept. 27, said Deborah Gramiccioni, acting director of the state Division of Criminal Justice. Carroll said he took that into account when he sentenced her to probation. Her live-in boyfriend and business partner, Jeffrey S. Lafferty, 40, was handed a 10-year prison term by Carroll on May 16. Lafferty and Ross were managing partners and owners of Lafferty & Partners LLC, which specialized in private wealth management for podiatrists, Gramiccioni said. Lafferty admitted that between Sept. 1, 2002, and July 26, 2007, he and Ross stole approximately $790,000 from clients, including a Bergen County podiatrist and his office staff, as well as from other investors across the U.S., state Attorney General Anne Milgram said. Rather than invest the funds for the clients as promised, Lafferty admitted that he and Ross spent the money to purchase a home they shared in Pennsylvania and to cover personal expenses, including mortgage payments, airline tickets, hotel rooms, store purchases and ATM withdrawals, prosecutors said. Their clients received monthly statements from Lafferty & Partners that falsely represented that their money was invested, a state grand jury said in a Sept. 26 indictment. Other than using a Red Bank address, the business had no connection to Monmouth County, prosecutors said. Thanks to Chad, a reader, for the story.n