Devon Archer, Hunter Biden’s former business partner, was sentenced on Monday for his role in a $60 million scheme to defraud a Native American tribe.
The defendant, Archer, was sentenced to more than a year in federal prison by Manhattan Judge Ronnie Abrams, calling his crime “too serious” to be let go.
“There’s no dispute about the harm caused to real people,” Abrams said.
In addition to jail time, Archer will also have to pay more than $15 million in forfeiture and more than $43 million in restitution with his co-defendants in the case.
According to his attorney Matthew Schwartz, Archer claims that he was taken advantage of by corrupt businessmen who wanted to use him in the scheme.
“He came under the influence of a person he trusted too much and didn’t ask enough questions,” Schwartz said.
Archer said that he was distraught about the pain he had caused to his friends and family after being convicted.
“I have deep remorse for the victims of the crime,” he said. “I’m most sorry for my family and what I’ve put them through.”
In 2018, Archer served with Hunter Biden on the board of the Ukraine-based energy company Burisma Holdings. Biden had no connection to the fraud scheme.
According to a sentencing memo, Schwartz argued that Archer provided “real value” to Burisma during his time on the board.
Prosecutors later charged Archer and his co-partners with conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud after they bought more than $60 million in bonds from the Oglala Sioux tribe, and used them to “build a financial services mega-company,” instead of annuity.
The convicted fraudster did not gain anything from the scheme and even lost money because of it, according to Schwartz.
Archer intends to appeal the conviction and sentence.
“It is unfortunate that the judge, who has previously expressed concern that Mr. Archer is innocent of the crimes charged and reiterated that belief today, felt that she was constrained not to act on her independent assessment of the evidence,” Schwartz said in a statement.
Reporters have reached out to Biden’s camp for comment but did not return the request.
