Former UVa, NFL player gets 40 years for investment fraud

RICHMOND, Va. – A former University of Virginia and pro football player has been sentenced to 40 years for running a $10 million fraud scheme that victimized more than 50 investors.

Federal prosecutors say in a news release that 37-year-old Merrill Robertson Jr. of Chesterfield was sentenced Wednesday. He was convicted in August on 15 offences, including mail and wire fraud and money laundering.

Prosecutors say Robertson and a co-conspirator operated Cavalier Union Investments in Richmond. Authorities say Robertson targeted former coaches, donors, alumni and employees of schools he had attended.

According to the documents, Robertson sold promissory notes that he claimed would pay an annual return of up to 20 per cent.

Instead, prosecutors charged, Robertson used the invested money for cars, vacations and a luxury suite at a football stadium.