NEW YORK – A son-in-law of former New York state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been sentenced to two years in prison after admitting cheating four investors out of nearly $6 million in a Ponzi scheme.
Judge Vernon Broderick sentenced 37-year-old Marcello Trebitsch on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court. The judge told Trebitsch he planned as recently as Monday to sentence him to four years in prison before rereading letters detailing his good deeds and value to his community.
Federal sentencing guidelines recommended four to five years in prison.
Prosecutor Daniel Goldman said Trebitsch deserved prison for a seven-year fraud.
Trebitsch was ordered to pay nearly $6 million in restitution.
A tearful Trebitsch apologized to the court.
Silver, a Democrat, was convicted two weeks ago in an unrelated corruption case.
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