Operator of guardianship firm gets 12-year prison sentence

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The operator of a New Mexico guardianship form has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for looting millions of dollars from trust accounts of dozens of people needing help with their financial affairs.
Paul Donisthorpe of Bloomfield, New Mexico, apologized for his actions as he was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Albuquerque, and U.S. Attorney John C. Anderson later said in a statement that Donisthorpe's conduct was "particularly odious" because he enriched himself at the expense of vulnerable people he was entrusted with protecting and serving.
Anderson's office said Donisthorpe previously entered into a plea agreement acknowledging that he embezzled from client trust accounts managed by Donisthope's now-closed company, Desert State Life Management, a state-regulated guardian firm.
Terms of the plea agreement include restitution of $6.8 million.