[Holmes] Judge says Aspiration’s co-founder Joe Sanberg’s fraud was “among the worst I’ve ever seen,” rejects claims he acted without greed, says he personally gained and was “entangled in a web of lies.” Sanberg, with his voice breaking, said to the court: “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48942217/aspiration-co-founder-sanberg-sentenced-14-years-prison
Federal prosecutors sought a prison sentence of 212 months – nearly 18 years – while Sanberg’s lead attorney, Marc Mukasey, argued that a prison sentence would be “too severe.”
Mukasey instead advocated for a punishment that would avoid any time behind bars for Sanberg, saying that Sanberg displayed “no malice, no ill will, no greed” in his actions and that he was not an outlaw but “a good person who did a bad thing.”
Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who has been a federal judge since 1985, disagreed.
In a federal courtroom in downtown Los Angeles, in front of people who said they had been defrauded by Aspiration and specifically by Sanberg, Wilson said the circumstances of Sanberg’s actions were “among the worst I’ve ever seen” in his career on the bench before adding that “this case has touched almost every badge of fraud.”
Though Mukasey said Sanberg avoided personal gain in his actions and instead sought to support the company and fuel his altruistic aims, Wilson again disagreed.
“[Sanberg] portrays himself as a do-gooder who was in business to help the world,” Wilson said, “but he did personally gain from his fraud.” Wilson added that Sanberg “hurt a lot of people” and “became greedy, brazen, callous” and “entangled in a web of lies” that continued for years.
Mukasey had previously tried to downplay the level of fraud committed by Sanberg, but Wilson disputed that claim.
“I would put the grade of his fraud at the zenith,” Wilson said.
Before he was sentenced, Sanberg addressed the court, saying he was “deeply sorry for the harm” he had caused while apologizing for his “terrible judgement,” which he said was due to his zeal to help the company succeed.
“I accept that I lost my moral compass and wrongly stepped over the line, and I’m very sorry,” Sanberg said, later adding, “I broke the law.”
In closing, Sanberg said, with his voice breaking, “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
Aspiration announced a 23-year, \(300 million endorsement deal with the Clippers in September 2021 and a \)28 million deal with star Kawhi Leonard in April 2022. Podcaster Pablo Torre, citing internal documents and an interview with an unnamed Aspiration employee, reported that Leonard’s sponsorship deal with the company was to circumvent the NBA’s salary cap, prompting the league to launch its investigation.
Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who invested $60 million of his own in Aspiration, denied he had knowledge of Leonard’s deal or that he directed the company to strike one.