Hamilton County - Jailed former money manager Marcus Schrenker has been appointed a public defender after telling an Indiana magistrate he has no home and that the government has frozen all his assets.
The 38-year-old suburban Indianapolis man appeared by videoconference Tuesday for his initial hearing in a Hamilton County court on 11 felony counts filed against him for allegedly defrauding investors and using $1.5 million of their money for his personal expenses.
The magistrate entered a not guilty plea for Schrenker and set a Nov. 9 trial date.
Schrenker was escorted to the jail Monday by federal marshals from a holding facility in Oklahoma. Schrenker was booked into the jail, had his photo taken and told the sheriff he was only interested in seeing his children and putting his legal problems behind him.
Schrenker pleaded guilty and was sentenced last month to over four years in federal prison for crashing his plane in Florida in a failed bid to fake his death to escape mounting business and personal problems. He's faces up to 88 years in prison if found guilty.
"We will do everything we can to try to make them whole. Certainly, the one thing we will see to is that he's held accountable for his actions," said Jeff Wehmueller, Hamilton County chief deputy prosecutor.
"Judges are becoming less patient with those that take advantage of education, ability to persuade - the financial benefits they took at the loss of others and they're handing out tougher sentences to white collar criminals," said Larry Mackey, former federal prosecutor.
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