Paradise to Prison: Pettibone Sentenced in $1.5 Million Ponzi Scheme

Paradise to Prison: Pettibone Sentenced in $1.5 Million Ponzi Scheme

Trading the D.C.-area rat race for a quiet seaside paradise sounds like the ending to a John Grisham novel.

It’s a daydream that former Alexandria resident Richard Allen Pettibone, 44, almost made a reality. But the money he used to fuel his dreams -- $1.5 million -- wasn't his.

Pettibone stole the money in a Ponzi scheme from his investment clients in Springfield, Lorton and Sterling, he acknowledged last week in a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's office.

Pettibone was sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for mail fraud.

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