An Anchorage woman who ran a Ponzi scheme was sentenced in state court for stealing from her friends.
Samantha Delay-Wilson, 65, is still awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to federal securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, bankruptcy fraud and money laundering charges in what prosecutors called a classic Ponzi scheme. She also pleaded guilty to state charges of first- and second-degree theft and writing a bad check and later helped prosecutors convict James Wease in the killing of his wife by testifying at his March trial.
Federal prosecutors say Delay-Wilson stole about $7.4 million from 14 investors through her companies, Nona Oma Investments and Money Sources Alaska, and spent the money on herself, in part by buying a $150,000 diamond ring. The state charges involve thefts of significantly less money.
On Friday, Judge Michael Spaan considered Delay-Wilson's testimony in the Wease trial and said he was showing her leniency because of it. Spaan sentenced Delay-Wilson to serve five years in prison and five years of probation. Federal prosecutors are recommending seven years for the Ponzi scheme.
It was the second time Delay-Wilson was sentenced in Alaska for financial crimes, Spaan noted. She pleaded no contest in 1999 to stealing from two Anchorage men who lent her $500,000. One lost his life savings, police said. Delay-Wilson was sentenced to serve seven months behind bars.
The previous judge, who'd written in his judgement that it was unlikely Delay-Wilson would ever be in trouble again, was "flat wrong," Spaan said.
"I'm very sorry that things turned out the way they have," Delay-Wilson said before Spaan handed down the sentence. "I had always been able to take care of my obligation but it got to the point that it got too big."
Delay-Wilson also seemed to make excuses for some of her actions in the theft from a one-time close friend, Waldo Johnson, who also spoke at the hearing. He said Delay-Wilson didn't deserve leniency for her testimony in the Wease trial.
"She took my money and a lot of other people's money without any leniency, and she was going for more," Johnson said. "The American Dream, for me, was work hard and save your money. And now that's gone."
"Everything's a lie. Everything she does is a scam."
Johnson said Delay-Wilson had likely squirreled away cash in overseas bank accounts and was ready to wait until she could get to the money.
"She probably has no fear of going to jail for a while because she has a big nest egg somewhere," Johnson said.
Delay-Wilson's lawyer, Rex Butler, said her help was central to Wease's murder conviction, his second in Alaska, and that showing her leniency would send a message to others with information in cases more serious than fraud and theft. Community members would rather have a light sentence for Delay-Wilson and Wease in prison on a murder conviction, probably for the rest of his life, than have Wease free.
"Murder trumps all," Butler said. "And Ms. Wilson was the key to convicting a person for murder."
Butler said his client had been beaten prior to her incarceration as retaliation for helping homicide detectives in the Wease case. Butler told Judge Spaan he worried about attacks in prison.
"She's going to be known as a snitch," Butler said. "Your honor knows that snitches have a hard time while incarcerated. It doesn't matter what it's for, a snitch is a snitch."
Prosecutor Joe Kovac said Delay-Wilson wasn't as cooperative and selfless as Butler portrayed her to be. She didn't start negotiating with prosecutors in the Wease case until after her conviction, Kovac said.
"It was done so with some reluctance, and although it was helpful, it was hardly the lynchpin in the state's case," Kovac said.
Spaan said Delay-Wilson's thefts were more than the typical "snatch and grab" offenses he sees and involved sophistication, planning and a "mastery of deceit and deception."
The judge said Delay-Wilson's statement showed a lack of empathy. He said he would've given her a sentence twice as long if not for her cooperation in the Wease trial.
"Whatever her motivations were, it was important to her, important to the state of Alaska, that she came forward," Spaan said. "I appreciate that she did and at risk to herself."
Reach Casey Grove at casey.grove@adn.com or 257-4589.
By CASEY GROVE
Anchorage Daily News