UPDATE: David Lewalski, Head Of Botfly LLC Ponzi Caper In Florida, Sentenced To 20 Years; In Rationalizing $30M Fraud Scheme, Lewalski Painted Investigators As Bogeymen, Complaining About ‘Orwellian Totalitarian Tactics’ As He Called Victims’ Advocate A ‘Nazi’ And ‘Bi***’

David R. Lewalski, the Florida man who ran a $30 million commodities Ponzi and fraud scheme known as Botfly LLC and persuaded at least one investor to pony up cash to pay for his defense, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.

Elements of the Lewalski caper were reminiscent of elements of the alleged AdSurfDaily Ponzi scheme, which also operated from Florida. Vile language was directed at investigators in both cases, and Lewalski urged victims not to cooperate with authorities. One person gave Lewalski $50,000 to pay for a lawyer — after Lewalski jetted to Europe on a private Gulfstream IV a day after Florida investigators implicated him in a Ponzi scheme, according to court filings.

ASD President Andy Bowdoin also is asking his members to pony up for his defense to Ponzi charges. A number of ASD members have urged fellow members not to cooperate with authorities.

After his European junket, Lewalski eventually came back to the United States and ensconced himself in a swanky hotel suite overlooking Central Park in New York while pretending to be elsewhere, according to court filings.

The U.S. Postal Inspection Service alleged that Lewalski complained to investors he defrauded about “recent ‘Orwellian’ totalitarian tactics” employed by U.S. investigators in Ponzi scheme cases, instead of accepting accountability for his fraud.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer joined U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill of the Middle District of Florida in making the announcement about Lewalski’s prison sentence.

In September, Breuer joined with U.S. Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. of the District of Columbia in announcing that $55 million had been returned to ASD victims. The U.S. Secret Service seized the money in August 2008.

Bowdoin called investigators “Satan.” Other ASD members called them “Nazis” and “goons.”

In the Botfly case, Lewalski described a victims’ advocate a “c[$%!]” and a “Nazi,” according to court filings. In one rant, Lewalski allegedly said, “So f[$%!] her what a bitch.”

Court documents also allude to a woman who allegedly was called an “FDLE chick” and described by Lewalski as “nuts” and a “bitch.”

FDLE is the acronym of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which assisted in the state and federal probes of Lewalski.