A former Merrill Lynch broker who pleaded guilty in March to one count of wire fraud after scamming clients out of more than $3 million was sentenced Thursday to 42 months in prison.
Marcus E. Boggs, 51, of Chicago had swindled clients including a man who received compensation from the state of Illinois for being imprisoned for years after being wrongfully convicted of a 1991 sexual assault, kidnapping and murder of a teenage girl, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, John R. Lausch Jr., said Friday while announcing Boggs' sentencing.
DNA testing had exonerated the man, who was released from prison and received about $5 million from the state of Illinois. He retained Boggs to manage and invest some of the money but Boggs instead stole about $800,000 of the client's funds, according to Lausch.
Asked to comment on the sentencing Friday, a Merrill spokesman only pointed to what the firm previously said on the matter: "We fired Mr. Boggs in December 2018 after an internal investigation found he stole client funds and made unauthorized transactions. We notified the appropriate authorities and have cooperated with their investigations. Consistent with our policy, Merrill Lynch notified affected clients and has reimbursed them."
When asked for comment on Friday, Kenneth Yeadon, a partner at law firm Hinshaw & Culbertson in Chicago who is representing Boggs, said only: "I am going to let our arguments to the court and in our sentencing papers speak for us."
Boggs spent 12 years as a registered representative with Merrill, joining the firm in 2006, according to his report on the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority's BrokerCheck website. FINRA barred him from the industry in 2019; the Securities and Exchange Commission, in 2020.
