Release date nears for man convicted in Ponzi scheme

SANDPOINT — A former Bonner County man convicted of masterminding a Ponzi scheme that bilked $2.2 million from investors is scheduled to be released this fall, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Dale Edward Lowell was serving a 36-month sentence at the Sheridan Federal Correctional Institution in northwest Oregon, but was released to an unspecified residential reentry center in April, said Pamela Bearg, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Boise.

The reentry center gives Lowell and opportunity to adjust to society and seek employment.

Lowell will remain an inmate at the reentry center, but could be released to a residence on home confinement until his Oct. 1 release date, said Bearg.

Lowell is slated for release about 21 months into his 36-month sentence because of good behavior while incarcerated, according to Bearg.

Lowell, 60, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and was sentenced last year in U.S. District Court. In exchange for the pleas, 11 additional counts of wire fraud were dismissed, U.S. District Court records indicate.

Lowell was indicted by a federal grand jury in 2011, after his investment club cratered. The scam took the savings of 22 “investor units” from around the Northwest.

Lowell, a church pianist and singer, allegedly used his connections within his congregation to drum up investors. Lowell represented himself as an accomplished options trader and personally guaranteed the safety of the investments.

The government contends Lowell either lost the money in the market through unwise trades, used it for personal expenses or made payments to uneasy investors to keep them at bay.

Lowell falsely reassured investors their money was not at risk, even when he became the subject of an Idaho Department of Finance investigation. The department won a $2 million judgment against Lowell in Idaho’s 1st District Court.

In addition to the judgment in state court, a court order has been entered in federal court requiring him to forfeit $1.7 million.

However, federal prosecutors have not yet identified specific assets that were derived from Lowell’s crime, nor have they identified any property that could be forfeited as a substitute asset, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Hall said in motion for final order of forfeiture.

It was not immediately clear if any inroads had been made in identifying assets since a forfeiture order was issued last year.

A standard condition of Lowell’s release requires him to find employment, court records show.