Fraudster Sentenced To More Than Four Years In Prison

SAN FRANCISCO – John Bryan Murphy was sentenced today to 51 months in prison, and ordered to pay $897,464.50 in restitution for wire fraud and money laundering, announced United States Attorney Alex G. Tse and Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge John F. Bennett.  The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Charles R. Breyer, U.S. District Judge.

Murphy, 44, of Hyannis, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty on April 27, 2018, to wire fraud and money laundering charges.  According to the plea agreement, Murphy admitted that between at least 2012 and continuing up until his arrest in 2017, he executed a scheme to defraud victims in order to obtain money and property from them by making false representations and promises.  Specifically, Murphy admitted he solicited investments from over a dozen victims on the false and fraudulent premise that he would professionally invest their money through an entity he controlled known as Capital Park, LLC.  Instead of investing their money, he used his victims’ money to support his lifestyle, to speculate on the stock market, and to partially repay other victims.  With respect to his partial payments to victims, he admitted that he made them to lull his victims into a false sense of security, to lead them to believe that the promises he made were true when in fact they were not, to postpone or prevent them from complaining to law enforcement, and to induce new victims to “invest” their money with him.  Murphy also admitted that he acted with the intent to defraud his victims during the entire scheme.  Finally, Murphy admitted that his scheme caused at least $890,000 in losses to his victims.

A federal grand jury indicted Murphy on November 30, 2017, charging him with ten counts of wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343, and two counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957.  Murphy pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.  The remaining counts were dismissed. 

“Today’s just and significant sentence is a reminder that fraud will not be tolerated and instead punished to the fullest extent of the law,” said US Attorney Tse.  “The defendant hid behind his lies and fraud to friends who trusted him with their hard earned investments.  Today’s sentence will hopefully bring some closure and relief to these victims of fraud.”

In addition to the prison term and restitution, Judge Breyer also ordered the defendant to serve a three-year period of supervised release to follow his prison term.  The defendant has remained in custody since his arrest and will begin serving his sentence immediately.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert David Rees is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Bridget Kilkenny.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.