December 3, 1998 | Read Time: 1 minute
A federal appeals court has upheld the 12-year prison sentence given to John G. Bennett, Jr., who defrauded hundreds of charities and donors through his Foundation for New Era Philanthropy.
Mr. Bennett pleaded no contest last year after he was charged with 82 counts of fraud, money laundering, and tax-code violations, and began serving jail time.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Philadelphia supported the decision of federal District Judge Edmund V. Ludwig to refuse to reduce Mr. Bennett’s sentence because the New Era mastermind had not truly accepted responsibility for his crimes.
The appeals court noted that at his sentencing hearing Mr. Bennett continued to deny culpability. “Though I know if I were to state my guilt in regard to certain facts of this case, my sentence would be less, I just can’t do that,” Mr. Bennett said. “I never intended to defraud or hurt anyone.”
The federal appeals court also ruled that Mr. Bennett got a fair trial from Judge Ludwig. Mr. Bennett’s lawyers wanted to argue at the trial that their client was legally insane at the time he ran New Era, suffering from mental disorders that put him into a “religious fervor” and making it impossible for him to intentionally defraud people. But Judge Ludwig restricted the use of that defense.
Mr. Bennett will now ask the appeals court for a rehearing of his case, according to his lawyer, Peter Goldberger.
