Boy-band mogul sentenced to prison in financial scam

Lou Pearlman, the man who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, was sentenced Wednesday in Orlando, Fla., to 25 years in federal prison for engineering a decadeslong scam that bilked thousands of investors out of their life savings.

It was the maximum sentence the boy-band mogul could receive for swindling some $300 million from investors and banks since the early 1980s.

He pleaded guilty in March to two counts of conspiracy and single counts of money laundering and presenting a false claim in bankruptcy court.

U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp noted that many victims were Pearlman's relatives, friends and retirees who lost everything.