San Diego : Boileau Receives 9-Year Sentence

The former president of a defunct real estate investment firm was sentenced Wednesday to nearly 10 years in prison for grand theft and California Corporation Code violations.

Superior Court Judge Paul E. Overton imposed the maximum sentence of nine years and eight months on Paul John Boileau, 45, who was convicted by a jury in February of 171 counts.

During his trial, 53 investors testified that they lost $872,718 they had put into the firm, Boileau & Johnson, in early 1982 before it was forced into bankruptcy.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Clifford Dobrin said the firm, which was founded in 1968 and apparently operated legitimately for at least 10 years, took in about $3.6 million in 1982. Total investor losses may be as high as $20 million in the bankruptcy proceedings, Dobrin said.

Investigators found that the firm was losing an average of $150,000 monthly in 1981, but Boileau continued soliciting investments even after company attorneys warned him that his firm was crumbling.

Overton, who refused to reduce the felony convictions to misdemeanors, said Boileau’s actions were “clearly premeditated and took planning and sophistication.”