ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - A Belen man has pleaded guilty to eight felony charges of embezzlement from Albuquerque-area residents who thought they were investing in restaurants.
Under a plea agreement announced Thursday by the state Attorney General’s Office, 55-year-old Gerald Steven Tabet (TAB’-iht) faces possible prison time and would pay $475,000 in victim restitution.
The office says Tabet spent the money he got from investors on personal luxury travel, entertainment, and private dance lessons for a family member.
The plea agreement calls for Tabet to be sentenced to up to 72 years in prison but for all at least 63 years of the sentence to be suspended. That would leave facing up to nine years in prison.
His sentencing hasn’t yet been scheduled.
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