Recidivist Huckster, 63, Found Guilty In $30 Million Ponzi Scheme Based In Colorado; Philip R. Lochmiller Sr. Wiped Out Investors After Earlier Serving 3 Years In California Prison For Securities Fraud

UPDATED 8:57 P.M. EDT (U.S.A.) Philip R. Lochmiller Sr., 63, has been found guilty of money-laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy in federal court in Colorado.

The jury returned the verdict in three hours, after a 10-day trial, the office of U.S. Attorney John Walsh of the District of Colorado said.

Lochmiller spent three years in a California state prison for a securities swindle in the 1980s, according to records. The California scheme involved about $5 million. Two decades later, a new Lochmiller real-estate scheme evolved in Colorado, involving about $30 million, prosecutors said.

A final restitution sum has not been calculated. Lochmiller potentially faces decades in federal prison.

The “verdict is a victory for the over 400 victims in this case, many of whom are from the Grand Junction area,” Walsh said.

Lochmiller was associated with firms known as Valley Mortgage Inc. and Valley Investments. Investors were promised returns of up to 18 percent, prosecutors said.