Chris Kirchner, who came close to buying two English football clubs, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud. Kirchner was sentenced at Fort Worth courthouse in Texas and also ordered to pay $65,415,938.12 in restitution. His sentence will be followed by three years of supervised release. In January, a jury found Kirchner guilty of four counts of wire fraud and a further seven counts of money laundering. He has been denied bail and was facing a maximum prison term of 150 years. Kirchner, wearing an orange jumpsuit at his sentencing on Thursday, was admonished by Judge Mark T. Pittman for his lack of cooperation and communication with his attorneys throughout the process, which began with a private attorney and eventually ended with a court-appointed defense attorney. Multiple times, Judge Pittman said he did not appreciate Kirchner wasting his time and the court’s time by trying to delay the inevitable, which was a lengthy prison sentence. At one point, the judge remarked, “We’re not going to play these games.” The judge pointed to the fact that it was Kirchner’s decision to go to trial, despite the fact that, as the judge said, the evidence against him was not only beyond a reasonable doubt but “overwhelming.” The judge said the jury took about 30 minutes to return a guilty verdict against Kirchner, saying it was one of the shortest deliberation times he could remember in recent years. 🔗 nyti.ms/3y1q0oD