A Florida man convicted of conning two women of out of hundreds of thousands of dollars has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, Fox WSVN reports.
Paul Francois, 57, appeared in court on Thursday and made a tearful apology to one of his victims before the judge gave him his sentence.
"I'm sorry, Rose Marie, I'll give you your money back. I want you to have a life and be better," he wept. "I promise I'll pay you back."
Authorites said Francois swindled nearly $400,000 from two New York women, Rose Marie Anglade and Sheila Brissault, whom he was courting around the same time.
"I've been waiting for that trial for four years," Anglade said. "Why didn't he apologize before those four years came?"
According to Anglade, she and Francois opened up a joint bank account, into which she deposited over $200,000. Francois quickly took the deposited money, Anglade said.
Brissault said Francois asked her to marry him, then convinced her to take out a $100,000 equity loan on her home.
Anglade is happy that Francois received prison time and said she doesn't feel sorry for him. "He has my money, $283,000. This is not something I got in one, two or three days," she said. "I worked all my life, for 27 years. I worked hard to get that money."
Both women are not expected to get their money back. The judge ordered that restitution be paid in a civil lien.
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