Developer C. Dean Larsen was sentenced Monday to six months in the Salt Lake County Jail and three years probation, but the judge postponed starting the sentence until after a March 2 hearing.
Third District Judge Michael Murphy also ordered Larsen to pay $834,000 in restitution to his victims. He was convicted of stealing the money from his partners in a Nevada trailer park, which was sold in 1986.But Larsen's attorney said he is filing a motion for a new trial, and Murphy scheduled the February hearing to hear the motion.
"I think it's appropriate that the period in the Salt Lake County Jail begin as soon as possible," Murphy said. "It is time this matter comes to an end, at least in this case."
The state tried Larsen, 58, in two separate trials in 1990. The first jury convicted Larsen of 18 counts of securities fraud, and the second convicted Larsen of the theft charge for which he was sentenced Monday.
Defense attorney Larry Keller said his motion for a new trial will raise at least 15 issues dealing with Utah's securities laws. Larsen used the proceeds from the trailer park sale for other projects.
Keller said Larsen is aware he needs to begin paying restitution. "He believes it's more of a moral obligation than a criminal one."
Larsen was convicted of the theft charge in December 1990. Before Larsen was sentenced, former judge Leonard Russon overturned the jury's guilty verdict. Russon said he believed Larsen's conduct was improper but not criminal.
The Utah attorney general's office appealed Russon's decision. Last spring, the Utah Court of Appeals overturned Russon and reinstated the guilty verdict. The appeals court sent Larsen back to 3rd District Court for sentencing.
In October, Murphy heard 21/2 hours of testimony at a sentencing hearing, but he delayed pronouncing the sentence.
Keller said at October's hearing that Larsen should be given probation instead of prison time, but assistant Utah attorney general Rob Parrish said Larsen is dangerous and should be sent to prison.
At that hearing, Parrish said that besides stealing the money, Larsen lied to his investors and forged a colleague's signature on a $500,000 check.
Larsen is the founder and former president of Granada Inc., a real estate development company that operated from 1970 to 1987. Hundreds of investors - primarily doctors, dentists and their employees - claimed they lost more than $50 million when the company went bankrupt in 1987.
Larsen blames the losses on a sharp drop in the value of Utah real estate in the late '80s.
But the Utah attorney general's office filed a 50-charge complaint against Larsen, accusing him of lying to investors and mismanaging their money.
That complaint resulted in the two trials. The state dropped all but 19 counts.
Keller concedes that Larsen's case has dragged on for years, but he said it's not because he's looking for legal loopholes.
"The truth is what we're attempting to do is use the legal process to make sure Mr. Larsen's legal rights are protected. That's the way the system works, especially when an innocent man has been charged as in this case."
Larsen has filed for personal and business bankruptcy.
Larsen remains free while he appeals the first conviction on securities fraud to the Utah Supreme Court.
After Monday's hearing, assistant attorney general Michael Wims said, "Maybe if we're lucky we'll live long enough to see the end of this case."