Lang
1/20/21
A former Des Moines sports radio host who swindled at least eight people out of $1.5 million has been sentenced to over three years in federal prison.
Marty Tirrell was sentenced on Wednesday to 41 months behind bars and another three years of supervised release. That’s not as much as the five-year prison sentence recommended by prosecutors.
Tirrell pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud in 2019. Nine other counts were dropped in a deal with prosecutors. If convicted on the original charges, Tirrell could have faced as much as 20 years in prison.
Tirrell was originally scheduled to be sentenced last April, but his hearing was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Prosecutors say Tirrell, known as “The Mouth of the Midwest”, told investors he could buy sports tickets with their money, resell them, and split the profit with them. But prosecutors say Tirrell soon began lying to the victims and sending them bad checks while spending their money on personal items or to pay back other investors.
Tirrell cried at Wednesday’s sentencing. One victim, to whom Tirrell owes over $890,000, told the judge Tirrell was “a liar, a fake, and a fraud, and I want him to go to Hell.”
Tirrell was also ordered to pay $1.5 million in restitution.