Oklahoma City man sentenced in pyramid scheme

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A man accused of running an Internet-based pyramid scheme is sentenced to five years in prison by a federal judge.<br/><br/>Donald -E- English also will be prohibited from using a

Wednesday, June 1st 2005, 6:10 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- A man accused of running an Internet-based pyramid scheme is sentenced to five years in prison by a federal judge.

Donald -E- English also will be prohibited from using a computer to solicit money for three years after his release. That was the ruling handed down Tuesday by US District Judge Stephen Friot.

English is one of six people convicted of operating E-Biz Ventures, a pyramid scheme advertised as a Christian-based humanitarian organization. He is the only one of the five who have been sentenced to prison so far.

The Securities and Exchange Commission says the scheme defrauded about 26,000 investors out of nearly $9-million.