Father of three tells packed court room 'hurt is deep, losses are staggering'

Posted: 05/12/2011 02:30:47 PM MDT

http://www.dailycamera.com/boulder-county-news/ci_18049934

DENVER – A federal judge this afternoon sentenced former Boulder private-fund manager and bank chairman Mark Yost to 6½ years behind bars for defrauding investors and banks out of $10.8 million.

Yost, 47, pleaded guilty in February to four counts of making false statements to banks and one count each of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.

His lawyer, James Nesland, asked for a five-year sentence while U.S. Attorney Thomas O'Rourke requested the judge levy a seven-year term.

The father of three stood before a packed courtroom and told U.S. District Court Judge Lewis T. Babcock that he tried desperately to stanch the losses his investment fund, Yost Partnership L.C., began incurring six years ago and make back the money his investors were losing.

“Poor decisions, poor choices, not adhering to the rule to stop digging when you're in deep, trying to make it right and breaking the law – none of this was right,” Yost said. “The hurt is deep and the losses are staggering.”

Federal prosecutors claim that Yost, as part of a complex scheme, diverted about $1.8 million from the investment fund he managed for his own use and benefit. He then sent investors statements with false information that led them to believe their funds were intact.

Yost also used his position as chairman of Boulder-based Flatirons Bank to forge the signatures of unwitting people on promissory notes, loan agreements and bank forms to obtain lines of credit – worth more than $3.8 million – from Flatirons that actually ended up in an account he controlled.

Prosecutors say the scheme started in early 2005 and lasted through the first half of 2010.

Yost's ex-wife, Maggie Diers, told the court that her former husband bilked friends and family members, including her father, who had set aside money to fund the education of his eight grandchildren.

“We are losing our home, we are moving out of state and the kids are leaving their friends behind,” she said. “Through manipulation and control, he has made fools of us. I am now a single mother of three children whose father is being sentenced to federal prison today.”

Babcock said he had doubts about Yost's claim that his motivation for the fraud was ultimately to make good with his investors. He said a large amount of the money Yost stole went toward buying his share of ownership in Flatirons Bank and paying mortgage and credit card bills.

Babcock said Yost's decision to defraud those close to him was reprehensible.

“It's one thing to lose money, but to lose trust in addition is something you can't quantify,” the judge said. “That some of them still have hope for him is remarkable.”

Yost, during his comments to the court, turned toward his victims and apologized.

“The hurt, the harm, the shame, the embarassment has affected three beautiful children, family and friends – the people who were most close to me,” he said. “It's been a dark period.”

Yost has 60 days turn himself in to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his sentence. He was also ordered to pay his victims $10.8 million in restitution.