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by Mike Caswell

Colin Heatherington, the Vancouver Island man who pleaded guilty to U.S. fraud charges arising from the $200-million Absolute Capital Management Holdings Ltd. fraud, has asked a judge to spare him any significant jail term. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) He says that he was lured into the scheme by "star fund manager" Florian Homm and that he has behaved himself in the 15 years that have passed since his crime. He also points out that others in the scheme have not spent a single day in prison.

The request from Mr. Heatherington, 49, comes as he awaits sentencing for a market manipulation that inflicted $200-million in losses on investors. Prosecutors claimed that Mr. Heatherington and others stuffed hedge funds with as much as $440-million worth of penny stocks that they had manipulated. Mr. Heatherington and his associates sold those same companies, using the proceeds to buy luxury cars, expensive homes and a yacht, prosecutors said. There was no trial for Mr. Heatherington, as he pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit securities fraud.

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