Judge Rules Convicted Swindler in Connecticut Won’t Have to Pay Restitution

A judge has ruled that a former Connecticut insurance broker convicted of swindling millions of dollars from several elderly clients won’t have to repay the money, as originally ordered.

Galan Newton was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2001 and ordered to repay $3.2 million to his victims and insurance companies.

The Hartford Courant reports that the now 65-year-old Newton was released from probation Tuesday after a judge found that there was no way for him to repay the $2.3 million he still owed.

Newton’s lawyer told the judge his client works low-paying jobs and will never be able to repay the money.

Prosecutors say all of Newton’s victims have died, and the insurance companies he owed no longer exist because they have been swallowed up in mergers.

Information from: Hartford Courant