Precious-Metals Dealer Gets 3 1/2-Year Prison Term
Saying “if there ever was a mixed-up screwball, this man is it,” U.S. District Judge A. Andrew Hauk on Monday sentenced a former Newport Beach precious-metals dealer to 3 1/2 years in prison.
Kent Gordon Alexander, 39, was convicted of defrauding investors of what prosecutors said was an estimated $4 million through his Newport Investment Management Corp., or NIMC, as it was known. Between 1980 and 1981, Alexander and his wife diverted $700,000 collected from investors who thought they were buying gold and silver for future delivery, according to court records.
As part of the sentence, Hauk ordered Alexander to undergo a six-month treatment program for mental disorders and drug dependency. In addition, he ordered Alexander, who pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion, to pay $12,000 in fines, $44,500 in restitution to investors and all his past and future income taxes. Alexander, who owes $140,000 in back taxes, was also ordered to pay the cost of his federal prosecution.
As part of his plea for leniency, Alexander’s attorney presented a 90-day psychological study that said Alexander suffered from a treatable manic-depressive disorder.
Hauk described Alexander as a “loose cannon” and “a con man.”
Before sentencing, Alexander, a tall, silver-haired man, said he would change his ways. “I am not an evil man,” Alexander said in a teary voice. “This kind of stress tears me apart at the seams.”
According to court records, Alexander fled from Orange County in July, 1981, a month after FBI agents searched and seized records from his company.
He also was charged with defrauding investors through another company called NIMC Strategic Metals, which purchased metals for investors and stored them in warehouses abroad.
Alexander admitted cashing in warehouse receipts in the Bahamas and moving to West Germany with the money. He was arrested by West German authorities on fraud charges in 1983 and spent 16 months in solitary confinement before he was extradited to the United States to face fraud charges.
Federal prosecutors said Alexander originally fled to Mexico, where he obtained a passport under the name of Robert Allen Menne.
Hauk said Alexander had a long record of offenses, including a narcotics conviction and charges of impersonating a lawyer.
