15-year sentence in phony $58 million fuel trading scheme

SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) — A man who pleaded guilty in Louisiana last year in an estimated $58 million investment fraud scheme has been formally sentenced to 15 years in prison. U.S. Attorney Brandon Brown in Shreveport announced Tuesday that 60-year-old David DeBerardinis was sentenced Tuesday. He had pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud in August. Prosecutors say DeBerardinis claimed to be part of a complex fuel industry trading operation that dealt with a major energy company. But he was not really making the fuel trades he claimed as he duped investors, including a Texas financial institution that provided $29.5 million.