Cynthia Setser, who was in hiding for a year after skipping out on a sentencing hearing before a Dallas federal judge in a multimillion-dollar securities fraud case, pleaded not guilty this week to a charge of failure to appear.
The FBI located and arrested Ms. Setser, 50, at a home in Florida on Dec. 6 after she missed a Jan. 16, 2007, sentencing hearing in Dallas. Ms. Setser was to be sentenced for her role in a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme spearheaded by her husband, Gregory Setser.
The scheme, aimed largely at Christian investors including televangelist Benny Hinn, bilked hundreds of people from Texas and California out of more than $170 million before the FBI shut down the Setsers' sham import company, IPIC Investments, in 2003. Mr. Setser received 40 years in prison.
Ms. Setser faces up to five years in prison on the securities fraud plea and five years if convicted of failure to appear.
