Wife of Florida Ponzi scammer sent to prison for 18 months

A Florida woman was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison this week for trying to hide some the ill-gotten gains from her husband's massive Ponzi scheme. Kim Rothstein, 39, apologized at her sentencing in Fort Lauderdale and said she had made the choice to sell off expensive jewelry and other valuables purchased with the proceeds of the $1.4 billion scam hatched by her estranged husband, Scott Rothstein. "I am not hiding behind anything that Scott Rothstein did," Kim Rothstein said tearfully. "It was my choice. ... I'm not putting this on Scott." Scott Rothstein pleaded guilty last year to engineering the investment scheme he ran out of his law office. He is serving 50 years for money laundering, witness tampering and obstruction of justice. Mrs. Rothstein admitted to trying to secretly sell an expensive 12-carat yellow diamond to pay her living expenses after her husband admitted to the Ponzi scheme four years ago, the South Florida Sun Sentinel said Wednesday. She already agreed to pay back $515,000 and turn over other valuables including her wedding ring and a stash of gold coins and bars. The Sun Sentinel said the judge agreed to allow Mrs. Rothstein to self-surrender at a federal prison in Miami late Tuesday to begin serving her time.