Victims Take Stand at Durham Sentencing

YOU'RE WATCHING WISH-TV. NOW 24-HOUR NEWS 8 AT NOON CONTINUES. GOOD AFTERNOON. THE STATE OF TIM -- FATE OF TIM DURHAM AND TWO CONVICTED JUDGE. DAVID BARRAS IS NOT IN THIS CHAIR BECAUSE HE IS THERE, HE FOLLOWED THIS CASE SINS IT STARTED THREE YEARS AGO AND JOINS US FROM THE FEDERAL COURTHOUSE WHERE THAT HEARING IS UNDER WAY, D.H.? Reporter: YES, THAT'S RIGHT, SCOTT AND LAUREN. THEY HAVE ACTUALLY TAKEN A BREAK FOR LUNCH RIGHT NOW, BUT WHAT ENDED JUST A FEW MINUTES AGO WAS SOME VERY EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY. VICTIMS, JUST A FEW OF THEM, THAT TALKED ABOUT WHAT THEY HAD LOST. FOR INSTANCE, A 78-YEAR-OLD NUN SAID SHE HAD LOST $125,000 IN SAVINGS TO FAIR FINANCE. A DAD WHOSE SON, A MARINE, HAD SERVED IN IRAQ AND DIED BACK HOME IN AN ACCIDENT, LOST ALL OF THE MONEY THAT WAS THE LIFE INSURANCE THAT HIS SON HAD LEFT TO HE AND HIS WIFE. THAT WAS THE KIND OF EMOTIONAL TESTIMONY THAT LED UP TO THE LUNCH BREAK. NOW, A LITTLE BIT EARLIER, THOSE STORIES WERE JUST 5,000 -- I MEAN, A FEW OF THE 5,000 VICTIMS WHO LOST A TOTAL OF $200 MILLION TO FAULTY INVESTMENTS. TIM DURHAM, JAMES COCHRAN, AND RICK SNOW WERE ALL CONVICTED ON CHARGES OF FRAUD AND CONSPIRACY TO COMMIT FRAUD IN WHAT PROSECUTORS CALLED A PONZI SCHEME USING INVESTORS' MONEY TO LIVE WHAT THEY CALLED A LAVISH LIFESTYLE. NOW, HERE'S WHAT THEY FACE. DURHAM FACES 225 YEARS IN PRISON. COCHRAN FACES 145 YEARS. AND SNOW, 85 YEARS. NOW, IN ARGUING FOR LESSER SENTENCES A LITTLE LITTLE BIT EARLIER, ATTORNEYS BLAMED THE GOVERNMENT RAID IN 2009, SAYING THAT IT ACTUALLY HURT THE COMPANY THAT HAD SUBSTANTIAL ASSETS BEFORE THE RAID. THEY ALSO BLAME MEDIA REPORTS OF THE RAID AND THEY BLAME THE RECESSION OF 2009. ALL OF THOSE THINGS, THEY SAY, MEANS THAT THE THREE SHOULD NOT GET THE SENTENCES THAT WERE RECOMMENDED. NOW, THE ACTUAL SENTENCING PART OF EVERYTHING BEGINS AT 1:00 THIS AFTERNOON. IT WILL BEGIN WITH COCHRAN -- RATHER WITH TIM DURHAM'S SENTENCE, AND AGAIN, HE FACES UP TO 225 YEARS. HIS ATTORNEY HAD ARGUED HE SHOULD GET SIGNIFICANTLY LESS, AND IN FACT, IN COURT DOCUMENTS, SAID HE SHOULD SHOULD BE GIVEN FIVE YEARS WITH TWO OF THOSE SERVED ON HOME DETENTION. SCOTT AND LAUREN? DAVE, AS YOU WERE DESCRIBING THE TESTIMONY HEARD TODAY, DID YOU GET A SENSE OF HOW ANY OF THOSE THREE MEN WHO ARE NOW CONVICTED OF DOING AGAIN WHAT THOSE VICTIMS WERE DESCRIBING, HOW THEY RESPONDED TO THAT? DID THEY SEEM TO SHOW ANY EMOTION? THEY HAVE HEARD THOSE Reporter: RIGHT. NO, THEY DID NOT. THEIR ATTORNEYS SAID NOTHING, THEY SAT THERE. I SHOULD TELL YOU THAT BOTH COCHRAN AND DURHAM WERE LED INTO THE COURTROOM EARLIER THIS MORNING IN JUMPSUITS, AND THEY WERE SHACKLED AND HANDCUFFED. I SHOULD ALSO TELL YOU THAT THE JUDGE SAID SHE GOT MORE THAN A THOUSAND LETTERS FROM VICTIMS, AND SHE READ A COUPLE THAT SHE WANTED IN THE RECORD. SO PEOPLE UNDERSTOOD THAT THIS DID HAVE AN EFFECT, EVEN THOUGH ONLY A FEW OF THE VICTIMS ACTUALLY TOOK THE STAND AND TESTIFIED TODAY. SCOTT AND LAUREN? INTERESTING PROCESS THERE. YES. SO DAVE, 1:00 IS THE NEXT TIME WE'RE WAITING FOR, RIGHT? Reporter: THAT'S RIGHT, 1:00. AS SOON AS GET THAT INFORMATION, YOU WILL SEE IT ON WISHTV.COM. WE'LL HAVE A FULL REPORT FOR YOU TONIGHT AT 5:00 AND 6:00. DAVE BARRAS REPORTING FLIEFS