Federal Judge Sentences Martin Frankel (Uses Religion to Justify/Apologize

[Khephra]

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A federal judge sentenced former fugitive financier Martin Frankel to more than 16 years in prison for devising a plot to cheat insurance companies out of $200 million to pay for his luxurious lifestyle.

Judge Ellen B. Burns announced the sentence Friday after listening to Frankel, 50, ask for leniency.

For 45 minutes, Frankel rambled on. He flitted from the Bible to St. Patrick, from apologies to justifications.

"Everybody looks at me as if I'm an evil genius," said Frankel, waving his hands while wearing a denim blazer over his prison scrubs.

http://www.newsday.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-frankel-sentencing,0,1676926.story?coll=sns-ap-business-headlines