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Miles “Burt” Marshall, an upstate New York businessman accused of running a Ponzi scheme involving more than $50 million, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges tied to the fraud, New York’s attorney general said. Marshall pleaded guilty in Madison County Court to counts connected to stealing and defrauding investors, according to a prepared release from Attorney General Letitia James.
James said Marshall faces 4 to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree grand larceny, securities fraud and first-degree scheme to defraud. James described the case as a multiyear scheme that targeted neighbors and community groups through assurances of steady returns.
Marshall, 74, lived and worked in the village of Hamilton, near Colgate University, where prosecutors said he prepared taxes and sold insurance. For decades, he also took money for what was sometimes called the “8% Fund,” which he said would provide annual interest at a promised rate.
According to the attorney general’s office, Marshall took money from neighbors, churches and area organizations, and referrals often came through word-of-mouth. The bankruptcy trustee later determined that Marshall used new investment money to pay off earlier investors by 2011, a finding that helped set the scope of what he owed.
The trustee eventually said Marshall owed nearly 1,000 people and organizations about $95 million in principal and interest, the attorney general said. James also said Marshall spent investors’ funds on shopping, vacations and restaurants, framing those expenses as part of how the fraud operated.
In a response provided in the days leading up to the plea, Dennis Sullivan, who said he was owed about $40,000, wrote that he believed the sentence would not fully meet the harm done. “I am shocked and a little upset that he didn’t get more time. I don’t feel justice was served,” Sullivan wrote in a text, saying Marshall had “ruined so many of our lives.”
The attorney general said Marshall made good on interest payments and withdrawal processing for many years, and that he later sought bankruptcy protection. Marshall filed for Chapter 11 in 2023 after a hospitalization for a heart condition, followed by a run on note holders seeking their money back.
Marshall’s bankruptcy filing listed more than $90 million in liabilities and $21.5 million in assets, according to the attorney general’s account. He is scheduled to be sentenced in Madison County Court on June 11. An email seeking comment was sent to Marshall’s attorney.