LOS ANGELES – Christopher Lloyd Burnell, 51, of Highland, California, has been sentenced to 168 months – 14 years – in federal prison for a brazen, multi-million dollar investment fraud that left victims financially and emotionally devastated. Burnell leveraged his past as a San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy to swindle investors, promising astronomical returns on investments that existed only in his imagination and on his expense account.
U.S. District Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald didn’t mince words, calling Burnell “one of the most evil people that I have ever dealt with in the law” before ordering him immediately remanded into custody. The sentencing follows Burnell’s guilty plea in May to 11 counts of wire fraud and two counts of filing a false tax return. The scheme, which began no later than November 2010 and continued until September 2017, preyed on the trust built from Burnell’s law enforcement background.
Burnell spun a web of lies, falsely claiming to have amassed a fortune through lawsuit settlements against the Sheriff’s Department and Kaiser Permanente, a patent sale to Oakley, and successful investments. He lured victims with promises of returns as high as 100%, repaid within weeks. He even fulfilled initial “trial” investments to build confidence, then demanded increasingly larger sums. But there were no investments, only a bottomless pit of personal extravagance.
Prosecutors detailed a life fueled by stolen money. Burnell blew through more than $2 million at the San Manuel Casino, squandered $500,000 on private jet travel, racked up $70,000 in Louis Vuitton purchases, and spent $175,000 on luxury cars and apartments for his girlfriends. As the scheme began to unravel, Burnell doubled down on the deception, claiming funds were tied up in trusts or seized by authorities. He even fabricated a sob story about his then-wife’s cancer and a custody battle to extract more money from desperate victims.
The fraud netted Burnell a staggering $7,592,491, wiping out the life savings of his victims. The damage was immense: depression, suicide attempts, business failures, foreclosures, lost college funds, and broken marriages. Burnell presented a falsified Wells Fargo bank statement showing over $150 million in assets to reassure victims, while his actual balance hovered around $6,500. Judge Fitzgerald ordered Burnell to pay full restitution to the victims.
The case underscores the devastating impact of financial predators who exploit trust and vulnerability for personal gain. While 14 years behind bars offers some measure of justice, the victims of Christopher Burnell will likely bear the scars of his greed for years to come. The U.S. Attorney’s Office intends to pursue all available avenues for asset recovery to provide some financial relief to those harmed by Burnell’s callous scheme.
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Key Facts
- Agency: U.S. Secret Service
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Press Release
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