Shelly Silver's Son-in-Law Pleads Guilty to $7M Ponzi Scheme

The federal corruption trial of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (pictured) is slated to start Nov. 2. That will be an even bigger day for the Silver family than it seems. Silver's son-in-law, Marcello Trebitsch, has agreed to a plea deal regarding unrelated charges that he cheated clients out of millions while running a seven-year Ponzi scheme. His sentencing date? Nov. 2. Marcello confessed to collecting $7M from clients between 2007 and 2014. He had pledged to use the money to trade through Allese Capital, an investment fund he controlled, according to Bloomberg. But he only invested a portion of that money, and never disclosed that he had suffered "enormous" trading losses. "I used some of the investor money to repay other investors," Marcello told the court. The feds charge that he used some of the money for his personal benefit as well. Under the deal Marcello pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud in exchange for the feds dropping a wire fraud charge. He agreed to repay $5.9M and could face 5 1/4 years in prison. A conviction could've resulted in 20 years per charge. Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, resigned his long-held leadership post in the Assembly after the feds charged him in January with using his position to rake in almost $4M in kickbacks and illegal fees tied to two separate frauds. Shelly, 71, denies any wrongdoing. He faces two decades in prison. [Bloomberg]