Advisor Who Bilked NHL Players Sentenced to 17 Years in Prison

By Jeff Berman

News October 13, 2020 at 06:42 PM

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An advisor who was convicted in 2015 of bilking National Hockey League players, Long Island police officers and others of at least $30 million has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Appearing before Judge Joseph F. Bianco in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York last week, Phillip A. Kenner was sentenced to 204 months and three years of supervised release from prison, according to a recent court document.

Kenner's co-defendant, part-time race car driver Tommy Constantine, is expected to be sentenced next month.

The defendants had been convicted in July 2015 on charges of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy related to several schemes involving fraudulent real estate and business investments.

Their sentencing was delayed because of multiple hearings and motions, and then, more recently, by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kenner played hockey at Renssellaer Polytechnic Institute, where he met Joe Juneau, a teammate who would later go on to play in the NHL. The now-retired Juneau testified that he introduced Kenner to other hockey players in the 1990s as Kenner was building his advisory career.

According to the Justice Department, Kenner's clientele included New York Islanders forward Michael Peca, U.S. Olympian Bryan Berard and Stanley Cup champions Darryl Sydor, Bill Ranford and Sergei Gonchar, among others, "whose careers blossomed just as Kenner took over greater and greater control of their finances and wealth."

ThinkAdvisor named Kenner one of the 12 worst financial advisors in America for 2015.

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