Friday, December 3, 2010  01:47 PM

The Columbus Dispatch

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/12/03/National_City_figure_resentenced_to_15_years.html?sid=101

Former National Century Financial Services founder Donald Ayers won't get a break on his prison sentence despite winning an appeal to have one charge thrown out.

U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley today sentenced Ayers, 74, to the same 15 years in prison he's been serving since he was sentenced in 2008 for money laundering, securities fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States in connection with National Century.

He was resentenced because the money-laundering charge was thrown out by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in late July. The court ruled that charge had not been proved during his 2008 trial.

After that trial, Marbley sentenced Ayers to five years in prison for each of seven conspiracy and securities charges, to run concurrently with a 15-year sentence on the money-laundering charge.

Under yesterday's sentencing, three of the five-year sentences will run consecutively and the rest will run concurrently.

"The evidence in this case of Mr. Ayers' guilt is simply overwhelming," Marbley said yesterday. "The message has to be sent ... that those who choose to engage in this type of behavior will face significant punishment."

Marbley let stand the $2.38 billion restitution that Ayers and other executives have been ordered to pay.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Squires argued that the prison sentence should remain at 15 years.

"The nature and circumstances of the offense conduct here were among the worst seen in any white collar case at the time," Squires wrote in court documents, saying that the criminal conduct "cannot be overstated" in the cases of Ayers, who was the chief financial officer for National Century.

Ayers's attorney Brian Dickerson asked for a five-year sentence, arguing that the sentences Marbley gave Ayers in 2008 should remain intact.

"He's deeply regretful of what occurred," Dickerson said. "The man sitting in prison now is a defeated, humble man."

In October, Marbley resentenced Ayers co-defendant, Roger Faulkenberry, after his money-laundering charges also were tossed on appeal. Marbley kept Faulkenberry's prison time at 10 years, which was his original prison time.

National Century, which went bankrupt in 2002, offered financing to small hospitals, clinics and nursing homes. Ayers and other executives lined their pockets with millions of dollars while falsifying the company's financial reports, trial testimony showed.

At least 275 health-care companies collapsed after National Century failed.