A federal judge issued a 10-year prison sentence last week for Charles Huggins, a former music producer who helped launch the careers of Whitney Houston and Kenny G. The 69-year old New Jersey native was convicted of bilking investors for millions of dollars in a ponzi-type scheme, spending a large portion on his lavish lifestyle. The defense had argued that losses were only about $2.3 million, and asserted that Huggins deserved no more than a 6-year sentence. Prosecutors painted Huggins as a remorseless con man, and insisted on a sentence between 22 and 27 years. In the end, the judge decided that neither party was completely right, settling on a sentence somewhere in the middle.

According to court documents, Huggins diverted the victims' invested funds into one of his record labels before spending it on cars, clothes and rent for a $7,200-per-month apartment in Manhattan. In true Ponzi-fashion, Huggins also paid previous investors out of money put in by new ones. The producer once ran a pair of successful music labels, Hush Productions and Orpheus Inc., but began scamming investors when hard financial times hit the industry. Former NFL played Ken Hamlin was among the victims of Huggins' scheme.