A married couple who concealed more than $100,000 from a bankruptcy court were sentenced on February 11, 2010, to six months in federal prison.

Paul Stanton, age 60, and his wife, Francine Stanton, age 40, from Dubuque, Iowa, each received the prison term after pleading guilty on May 11, 2009, to one count of bankruptcy fraud.

In a plea agreement, the Stantons admitted Francine Stanton received a divorce settlement in excess of $100,000 two months prior to filing for bankruptcy. The Stantons spent the money on jewelry, semi-truck repairs and a trailer, and other purchases and expenses before filing for bankruptcy. In the bankruptcy petition, the Stantons failed to disclose receipt of the divorce settlement and concealed the jewelry and other assets purchased with the divorce proceeds. The bankruptcy court discovered the fraud and denied the Stantons’ petition to have their debts discharged.

The Stantons were sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Chief Judge Linda R. Reade. Paul Stanton and Francine Stanton were each sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. A special assessment of $100 was imposed on each defendant. The Stantons must also serve a two-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system. The Stantons were released on the bond previously set and are to surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on a date yet to be set.

This case arose out of the work of a bankruptcy fraud task force for the Northern District of Iowa made up of personnel from the United States Attorney’s Office, the United States Trustee’s Office, and law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney C.J. Williams and investigated by the United States Trustee’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 09-00027.

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