He ensnared 15 people in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme. Now, he is going to prison.
PROVIDENCE – Describing his crimes as an intentional, long-range con game, a federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a West Warwick man to serve eight years in prison for ensnaring 15 people in a decade-long Ponzi scheme.
U.S. District Court Judge Mary S. McElroy concluded that federal prosecutors had produced “significant” evidence that Thomas Huling, 60, had engaged in an ongoing criminal enterprise that continued even after he learned he was under investigation. It was clear, McElroy said, that Huling used religion and personal relationships to convince people to invest in his ventures, all while juggling some 50 bank accounts and multiple shell companies to cover his tracks. At times, he would use investors’ money to keep other investors at bay and without a legitimate business purpose.
“During that time, he used the money to fund an excessively lavish lifestyle,” McElroy said. Authorities chronicled Huling using investor money to purchase a million-dollar home, a Cadillac Escalade, a Mercedes Benz and six high-end motorcycles. Other money was spent at country clubs, restaurants and hotels, as well as at Foxwoods casino.
Sizeable restitution, no-contact orders
The 96-month term was less than the 11-plus year sentence sought by prosecutors, but McElroy said she was persuaded by Huling’s age, medical concerns, and the victims’ desire to be repaid. She ordered Huling to pay his victims just shy of $11 million in restitution.
Huling will be subject to three years of supervised release after he completes his sentence, during which he must refrain from gambling and undergo mental-health and behavioral counseling.
He is barred from getting any new lines of credit until his obligations to the victims are satisfied and must disclose all financial records to the probation office.
He was ordered not to contact the victims.
'This man kept me in a constant state of fear'
In 2022, Huling pleaded guilty to wire fraud and evading $533,000 in taxes. Under the plea deal, the government agreed to dismiss the other charges in the 21-count indictment.
One of his victims addressed the court, describing how she met Huling on a dating website and he convinced her that they had shared beliefs about morality, raising a family and vision for their future.
He soon manipulated her to rack up $20,000 in credit card debt, paying a $5,000 down payment for his daughter’s car, and allow him access to her 401K, which he drained of $190,000, she said.
More: West Warwick investment manager accused of running $14-million Ponzi scheme
“This man kept me in a constant state of fear … and abandonment,” she said.
She underwent stress, trauma and abuse at his hands and ultimately had to declare bankruptcy.
“This situation has cost me almost $400,000 out of my pocket. And I am not done," she said in an impact statement. "I am at a deficit for my financial future at 55 years old. I have struggled to keep my house, make my mortgage payments, drive my 10-year-old car, and do the best I can to enjoy my life. I have constant reminders of the nightmare I went through and all that I’ve had to do to stay OK."
Get rich scheme
Crucial to Huling’s scheme were his promises of extraordinary returns on investments.
In asking the court to sentence Huling to 42 months behind bars, Rebecca L. Aitchison argued he was driven by greed after growing up in housing projects, the youngest child of a single mom.
“He became fixated on the idea of money, providing for his children,” Aitchison said.
She insisted his “projects” were not frauds from the outset.
“He wanted these to work,” she said.
Huling also spoke, saying he always intended to pay the $533,000 in back taxes and that he wants to make his victims whole.
“I feel very apologetic and deeply sorry for that happening,” he said. “I never meant to hurt or defraud anybody.”
McElroy did not seem convinced of his remorse.
As jurors wait, Huling visits Foxwoods
The sentencing was a long time in coming. Authorities first charged Huling in 2019.
On Sept. 13, 2022, as McElroy, lawyers and jurors waited for his trial, Huling was in a hotel room at Foxwoods.
A prosecutor told McElroy that she and a federal agent visited Foxwoods and saw surveillance video that showed what Huling was doing while jurors sat in court.
They saw him checking into a Foxwoods hotel room on Sept. 11 and and emerge two days later as a valet pulled up in his Mercedes, and he drove off.
John N. Kane, of the U.S. Department of Justice Tax Division, said Tuesday that Huling had left people devastated, with their retirements postponed or ruined altogether.
“Huling used his intellect, his talents, and his obvious ‘gift of gab’ and silver tongue to defraud the sophisticated investors and the less sophisticated investors alike. Worse still, he charmed and manipulated his WebDreams victims through promises of love, a future, and security,” Kane said in a memo.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: West Warwick man gets 8 years in prison for long con Ponzi scheme
