Ex-Merrill Rep Who Scammed Pastors Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

After leaving Merrill, he formed a company called ALPAX and persuaded people to invest in false ventures including student housing construction, high-yield fixed income securities, oil and gas technology, mineral rights and timber leasing, Ihlenfeld alleged.

Conley provided investors with a false sense of security by mailing them dividend statements that misstated the value of their investment accounts, according to Ihlenfeld.

His victims included churches in Charleston, Morgantown and Parkersburg, West Virginia, as well as small-business owners and his own friends and family members, Ihlenfeld alleged.

Conley spent the money he stole on private jets, designer clothes, fine dining, jewelry, housing and living expenses, according to Ihlenfeld.

"Securities fraud is a terrible crime and often has a devastating impact," Ihlenfeld said. "Conley was very persuasive and groomed his victims, convincing them that these were legitimate investment opportunities. Unfortunately, it was a scam in which Conley robbed investors of their life savings," Ihlenfeld said in a statement.

"Conley lived a luxurious life, but in reality, lined his pockets by orchestrating a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme that took money from his own family members and other victims," according to Mike Nordwall, FBI Pittsburgh special agent in charge.

In addition to the prison sentence, Conley was ordered to forfeit any property purchased from the proceeds of the crimes and to pay a monetary judgment of $4.9 million, Ihlenfeld said. His prison sentence is also to be followed by 36 months of supervised release, and he was hit with a special assessment fee of $100, according to a court document.