Durham sentenced to 50 years again despite successful appeal

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – A federal judge has refused to reduce the 50-year prison sentence for a former Indianapolis businessman convicted of defrauding investors in an Ohio company of $200 million even though an appeals court threw out two of the 12 counts against him.

The Indianapolis Business Journal reports U.S. District Judge Jane Magnus-Stinson told Tim Durham that because of the number of victims and the pain his scheme caused she didn’t find any basis to alter the court’s sentence calculation.

Durham was convicted in 2012 of securities fraud, conspiracy and 10 counts of wire fraud. An appeals court last September overturned two wire fraud counts.

Durham’s court-appointed lawyer, Kenneth Riggins, sought a sentence similar to the 25 years Fair Finance co-owner Jim Cochran received after being convicted on eight counts.