Securities fraud case nets man 15 years of probation

PROVO — A man who took thousands of dollars for what turned out to be phony investment strategies will spend the next 15 years on probation to ensure he pays back his victims.

Howard Earl Bushman, 66, was sentenced Monday on charges of securities fraud and attempted securities fraud and ordered to spend five days in the Utah County Jail, then the next 180 months on supervised probation with Adult Probation and Parole.

"The court has found that this is a very effective means ... to impress upon him the importance of making amends for what he's done," 4th District Judge Samuel McVey said Monday. "If he wants to be in a state of denial, and if restitution is imposed, he can be in a state of denial in custody. If he wants to face up to it like a man and make restitution, it will benefit him."

If Bushman pays off the restitution quickly, the judge said he would consider closing the case, and probation, early.

The jail time and lengthy probation sentence was a far cry from the original agreed upon recommendation by the prosecutor and defense attorney, said Bushman's attorney, Lisa Estrada.

Estrada said her client agreed to plead guilty to one third-degree felony and six misdemeanors, rather than go to trial — if any jail time could be served on an ankle monitor, if the charges could run concurrent and if there were an agreement for probation time.

Judges are not bound by sentencing agreements, but generally stick fairly close to the recommendations.

"This is somebody who has no criminal history at all, and he's getting slammed worse than drug dealers," she said.

Bushman was charged in August 2007 with various felonies for selling promissory notes and stock options for corporations he never worked for, and promising large, quick returns, said prosecutor Tim Taylor.

Estrada said she was also concerned about the recommendation from Adult Probation and Parole, which incorrectly listed the number of felonies pleaded to on the case as two, instead of the one third-degree felony, leading to an erroneous recommendation of 90 days in jail.

"He has diabetes, he's on different medications, he and his wife ... (rely) on his social security income for their support," Estrada said. "This is not someone who's a danger to society, this is somebody who had an error in judgment and made a mistake."

Yet the prosecutor said he doesn't see this case as simply an "error."