How long might Daryl Heller spend in prison if he’s convicted of fraud in ATM case?

• By Chad Umble/LNP | LancasterOnline

If Lancaster businessman Daryl Heller is convicted on the five fraud charges he faces, it seems unlikely he would be sentenced to the 100 years in prison the U.S. Attorney’s Office said is the maximum.

If Heller is convicted on charges related to his failed ATM investment business, and a judge sentences him based on federal sentencing guidelines, each of the five fraud counts could call for a prison term of between 27 years and 33 years. Heller doesn’t have a prior criminal record, but sentencing guidelines would greatly lengthen a prison sentence for him due to the magnitude of the alleged $402 million loss in the case as well as the large number of victims, which is pegged at 2,700 investors.

If a judge would decide to impose the maximum sentence for each of the five counts against Heller and then choose to have Heller serve the terms consecutively — one after the other — it could result in a sentence of 135 to 165 years.

However, the sentencing guidelines are advisory and judges only follow them in about half the cases of individuals who commit securities and investment fraud, according to a United States Sentencing Commission report on sentences in fiscal year 2024.

In 2024, 88% of individuals convicted of securities and investment fraud were sentenced to prison and the average sentence was 38 months, according to the United States Sentencing Commission report.

The indictment also calls for Heller to forfeit to the government “any property, real or personal” that is derived from proceeds traceable to the alleged fraud, “including but not limited to the sum of $770,106,400.” If such property can’t be seized, the government would seek the forfeiture of other property of Heller’s worth $770 million.

Forfeited property in a fraud case can be used to make restitution to victims.