New York Times:

Norman Hsu, a former prominent Democratic fund-raiser, was sentenced Tuesday to more than 24 years in prison for bilking hundreds of investors of millions of dollars in a nationwide Ponzi scheme and committing campaign finance fraud.Judge Victor Marrero of United States District Court in Manhattan rejected Mr. Hsu's plea for leniency and cited what he called a "stunningly elaborate system of fraud and deceit."

From 2005 to 2007, the authorities said, Mr. Hsu had "straw donors" contribute more than $25,000 a year to federal candidates, and then reimbursed them in violation of federal law.

When news that there was an outstanding warrant for Mr. Hsu's arrest became public, it turned into an embarrassment for Democratic politicians, particularly for Mrs. Clinton. The same politicians who once courted Mr. Hsu could not get rid of his money fast enough. Mrs. Clinton donated the money she received from Mr. Hsu to charity. Eliot Spitzer, Andrew M. Cuomo, Barack Obama and Al Franken did the same.

Mr. Hsu pleaded guilty in May to 10 counts of mail and wire fraud in connection with the Ponzi scheme, which prosecutors said lasted about a decade and defrauded over 250 investors of more than $50 million.Then, on May 19, after a trial, he was convicted of four counts of campaign finance fraud. Prosecutors presented evidence that from 2005 through 2007 he directed "straw donors" to contribute to the campaigns of various federal candidates whose favor he was trying curry, and that in some cases he reimbursed donors from the proceeds of his fraudulent scheme.

One candidate who received contributions was Hillary Rodham Clinton, then a senator, whose presidential campaign later returned about $850,000 to more than 200 donors who had been recruited by Mr. Hsu."Our system of government," Judge Marrero said before imposing the sentence of 292 months, "relies not only on scrupulous preservation of the rule of law but also on faith in the democratic processes by which our leaders are elected and govern."

He added, "Mr. Hsu's disgraceful use of political campaigns to perpetrate his Ponzi scheme, as well as his acts of campaign finance fraud, strike at the very core of our democracy." The United States attorney's office had asked the judge for a sentence of at least 30 years. Mr. Hsu, who the authorities say is 58, said he wanted to apologize to the court and to "everyone else." "I made a huge mistake, a terrible mistake," he said. Mr. Hsu's lawyer, Alan Seidler, said his client would appeal.

Judge Marrero said Mr. Hsu had "leveraged his relationships with prominent politicians, relationships largely garnered through the years of contributing vast sums of stolen money to political campaigns, in order to perpetuate his scheme." At trial, victims testified that Mr. Hsu displayed photographs of himself with political candidates, and at political events introduced them to candidates like Mrs. Clinton and Barack Obama. Prosecutors played a recording for the jury of a voice mail message left by Mrs. Clinton for Mr. Hsu, lavishing him with praise for his support.

"I've never seen anybody who has been more loyal and more effective and really just having greater success supporting someone than you," she is heard saying. One prosecutor, Rua M. Kelly, objected to Mr. Hsu's request for leniency on grounds that he was offering to try to help victims recover their losses. She said much of the money was gone, spent by Mr. Hsu to support a luxurious lifestyle. Another prosecutor, Alexander J. Willscher, said Mr. Hsu had refused to meet with the government on the matter.

Ms. Kelly said the notion that Mr. Hsu is helping the government reclaim money for victims is "ludicrous." At one point, Judge Marrero said that Mr. Hsu's conduct, as in other white-collar crime cases, "summons the image of the wolf in sheep's clothing." The judge said, "It is the widespread recognition in the community that the defendant enjoys for strong character, integrity, sound social values and good public deeds that facilitates his hidden life of crime."