Christian radio host Doc Gallagher will get 3 life jail phrases for bilking listeners out of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}

A Texas radio host was sentenced to 3 life jail phrases Monday for a Ponzi scheme wherein he bilked aged listeners out of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}. William Neil “Doc” Gallagher additionally received a 30-year jail sentence from state District Decide Elizabeth Seashore for his August responsible pleas. The sentences are to be served concurrently.

The sentencing got here after greater than a dozen senior victims testified throughout a three-hour courtroom listening to about shedding wherever from $50,000 to $600,000 invested within the Gallagher Monetary Group. Some mentioned they needed to promote their properties, borrow cash from their youngsters or take part-time jobs to complement their Social Safety advantages.

“‘Doc’ Gallagher is without doubt one of the worst offenders I’ve seen,” mentioned Lori Varnell, chief of the Tarrant County District Legal professional’s Elder Monetary Fraud staff. “

Gallagher, 80, and his Gallagher Monetary Group marketed on Christian radio with the tagline, “See you in church on Sunday.” He promoted his funding enterprise in books, comparable to “Jesus Christ, Cash Grasp,” and on Christian radio broadcasts.

Gallagher has been behind bars since his March 2019 arrest on related expenses filed in Dallas County. In 2020, he pleaded responsible to these expenses and was sentenced to 25 years in jail. He was indicted in Tarrant County in August 2019.

“He ruthlessly stole from his purchasers who trusted him for nearly a decade. He amassed $32 million in loss to all of his purchasers and exploited many elder people. He labored his means round church buildings preying on individuals who believed he was a Christian,” Varnell mentioned in a press release.

CBS DFW reported that a few of Gallagher’s victims spoke of shedding belief in individuals and of the despair they now undergo due to shedding their financial savings by way of Gallagher’s firm.

“I am afraid my cash goes to expire,” Judy Dewitt, one of many victims, mentioned. “It is a very scary factor.”

Susan Pippi, one other sufferer, mentioned, “I do not belief anyone anymore, aside from God and my household.”