A federal jury convicted a Canton man and his sister Monday of swindling evangelical Christians who poured more than $170 million into a faith-based import scheme.

After more than nine days of deliberations, jurors decided that Gregory Setser, 49, created and ran a classic Ponzi scheme that repaid early investors with other investors' money over a two-year span. He could face up to 45 years in prison.

Mr. Setser's daughter-in-law Charnelle Setser and Thomas Henschke walked out of the courthouse without comment after the four-month trial. Both were found not guilty on all charges.

"I think that Tom really did believe in Setser, there was little doubt about that," Mr. Ogan said. "Now, he just wants to get back to his family in Florida and get on with his life."

Prosecutors Jeff Ansley and Marcus Busch left the courtroom without comment on the verdict. In their closing arguments last month, the pair remained adamant that every defendant knew that evangelical ministries, preachers and churchgoing investors were repeatedly lied to about where their money was going.

Three others - Mr. Setser's wife, Cynthia, son Joshua and brother-in-law Larry Kuncl - reached plea agreements in exchange for their trial testimony.

In testimony by more than 70 government witnesses, prosecutors showed jurors how Gregory Setser's IPIC Investments Inc. turned out to be nothing more than a sham that rarely bought - and never sold - cheap, foreign-made products to major U.S. retailers.

Mr. Setser began IPIC in Texas and later moved its operations to Los Angeles, where the company pulled in more than $173 million from investors. According to trial testimony, IPIC repaid about $115 million in fake investment profits to keep its ruse going. By the time the Securities and Exchange Commission shut down the company in November 2003, losses had mounted to about $58 million.

Donald Templin, Mr. Setser's attorney, tried to convince Judge Lynn that his client was not a flight risk and could be released pending sentencing. But the judge cited trial testimony that brought up threats made against witnesses and attempts to solicit money from potential investors while awaiting trial.

"I'm disappointed," Mr. Templin said. "Hopefully, the judge will consider all the circumstances and allow Mr. Setser to get his affairs in order before his sentencing."

During the trial, the majority of the testimony pointed to the ceramics merchant-turned-millionaire as the one who controlled the massive, circular flow of money into IPIC's coffers.

Prosecutors described Deborah Setser and Mr. Henschke as running "cons within the con" along with Gregory Setser, saying they knew that money raised wasn't being used to buy any products offered by IPIC or its subsidiaries.

Charnelle Setser, who once signed bank documents as the chief financial officer of IPIC, told one worker in the weeks before the company was shuttered: "If the feds come in, you know nothing."

Trial testimony also focused on the extravagant lifestyle of the extended Setser family, including a yacht, airplanes, a helicopter, homes, cosmetic surgery and padded expense accounts, all paid for with investor dollars.

Investors said Gregory Setser had boasted of close contacts with foreign potentates who were allies to his import-export empire. Others credited his wife with trying to raise money in a purported Congolese diamond mine.

When a court-appointed receiver finished selling off what remained of IPIC assets and Setser holdings late last year, about $12 million had been collected to distribute to those who filed loss claims from the scheme.

This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow. This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow. More headlines...

This is cache, read story here