Man Sentenced For Defrauding Clients Of Retirement Funds

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A stockbroker who prosecutors say defrauded clients of more than $2.3 million has been sentenced to more than 8 years in prison.

Thirty-nine-year-old Gary Clark Steciuk of Buffalo Grove, Illinois, and Heber Springs, Arkansas, was also ordered to pay restitution at sentencing Friday in federal court in Baltimore.

According to his plea agreement, Steciuk embezzled money from at least 18 of his clients' investment accounts, which were funded with retirement accounts.

Prosecutors say Steciuk used forged forms to change addresses on the accounts from his clients to a post office box he controlled in Hampstead, Maryland.

Authorities say Steciuk used the embezzled money support a lavish lifestyle, including buying homes for himself and others, as well as to support his extramarital affairs.

Prison