This speaks for itself. Michael Ritter has be sentenced...RITTER GETS 10 YEARSand...
By TONY BLAIS, COURT BUREAU
Disgraced Edmonton businessman Michael Ritter admitted full responsibility for his multimillion-dollar crimes in a farewell speech en route to prison yesterday.
Ritter, 49, was handed a 10-year sentence by provincial court Judge Elizabeth Johnson, who accepted a joint submission recommended last week by Crown and defence.
Ritter thanked the lawyers involved as well as his family and friends and said he was deeply sorry for his actions.
"I do indeed have a conscience and I do carry an enormous amount of guilt which I cannot fathom will ever go away," said Ritter. "There's no question I feel deeply embarrassed and humiliated."
The judge acknowledged Ritter's loss of reputation in Edmonton, where he was known as a generous patron of the arts, but said he was "the author of his own misfortune."
Ritter's one-man show is over. Prison awaits - by Paula Simons at the Edmonton Journal
Former government adviser jailed 10 years for pyramid scheme - Globe & Mail
Canadian Tied to Merrill Fraud Gets 10-Year Sentence - Bloomberg
Edmonton man gets 10 years in massive scam - Canada.com
Click here for the complete Michael Ritter Scandal Chronology.
"Michael Ritter hasn't lost his magic. Last week, his lawyer entered into evidence 40 fulsome letters of support from character references -- including university professors, arts administrators, former provincial New Democrat leaders Pam Barrett and Ray Martin, former Conservative cabinet minister Jim Horsman and former Tory MLA and speaker David Carter. In spite of those character references, Michael Ritter isn't an honourable soul who made an isolated error in judgment. He lied, stole, facilitated fraud and manipulated the gullible for years, all to maintain his illusion of grandeur."
ReplyDeleteI wonder what Brian Mason and NDP members think of their former leaders and one of their current MLA's backing Ritter.
The letter of reference mentioned, signed by Mr. Martin, predated most public knowledge of Mr. Ritter's criminal activities.
ReplyDeleteMr. Ritter pulled the wool over the eyes of MLA's from all three of Alberta's main political parties.
The real issue here should not be "who got fooled" but rather, once it was discovered, why did this man only get 10 years for theft on this level? The ponzi scheme he was part of stole many folks retirment funds. He has broken countless lives. He needs to be made an example of, and for him to only get 10 years sends the wrong kind of example.
Getting character reference letters from politicians - wow, that's going to sway a judge. The Liberal Party, through the sponsorship scandal, have completely discredited these references.
ReplyDeleteonly 10 years? what a sham.
ReplyDeleteRitter tried to kiss me once, so I really hope he manages to serve the full 10 years as punishment.
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