Castle Rock man serving prison term
By James Paton, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published December 15, 2007 at 12:05 a.m.
Joseph Ferona, a Castle Rock man who promised outsized investment returns and promoted the "Hedge Fund of Colorado, The New Age of Investing!" on a roadside sign, is serving a 70-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud.
Ferona, who disappeared in 2005 but was arrested early this year outside a health club in the Austin, Texas, area, also must pay restitution of nearly $2.2 million, according to court documents outlining the October sentencing.
The businessman attracted money from 37 investors in Colorado and other states but used a lot of it to pay for cars, boats and a down payment on a house in Parker, court documents show. Ferona, 46, also pitched the "Global Prosperity Fund," using the slogan "Growing Wealth Through Double-Digit Profits, Always!!"
The court had recommended a federal prison in Bastrop, Texas, roughly 30 miles southeast of Austin, according to the documents.
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