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by Mike Caswell

Joshua Lankford, a former stock broker who pleaded guilty to aiding a $44-million (U.S.) pump-and-dump scheme, has received seven years in jail. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) Prosecutors claimed that he and others, including one Canadian, manipulated three pink sheets companies with spam and manipulative trades. They defrauded at least 11,500 investors, according to the government.

Mr. Lankford, 39, received his sentence during a 40-minute appearance in a Tulsa, Okla., Thursday morning. In addition to the seven-year prison term, the judge ordered him to forfeit $250,000. He also must serve three years of supervised release, during which he must submit to drug testing and abstain from alcohol. At the conclusion of the sentencing the judge ordered him committed to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons.

The charges against Mr. Lankford stemmed from a scheme in which he and others allegedly defrauded investors in three pink sheets companies. The men promoted the stocks with false information, in one case touting a company as a storm reconstruction outfit in the wake of hurricane Katrina, the government said. Mr. Lankford's co-defendants include former Canadian broker Dean Sheptycki, who sent out mass faxes in support of the scheme, prosecutors claim.

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