A former Monsey man who embezzled $650,000 from investors asked a federal judge to sentence him to home confinement, for the sake of his children and “to put a stop to the destructive cycle set in motion by his father,” a convicted white-collar criminal.
Instead, on Aug. 1 U.S. District Judge Vincent L. Briccetti sentenced Eliezer Tilson to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
Tilson, 38, a dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel, pleaded guilty last December to interstate and foreign travel in aid of racketeering.
In 2019, he asked two Brooklyn men who had previously backed him in a real estate venture to invest in another project. But instead of putting money into the new project, according to court records, he paid dividends to investors in unrelated projects and to pay down debts.
When the investors confronted Tilson about why their money had not been deposited, he assured them that all was well and provided phony support documents.
Defense attorneys Mark E. Bini and Kaela Dahan recommended a six-month term of home confinement, a rigorous program of community service and spiritual counseling, in a sentencing letter submitted to Judge Briccetti.
“Eli’s primary concern is caring for his four young children,” they said. “Eli is terrified that his absence from his children’s lives, at such a young and impressionable age, would have a devastating impact on their development.”
Tilson grew up in Rockland County, and as the oldest of three boys, helped care for the family when his father was imprisoned for a white-collar crime.
He studied in Israel for a year, later served in the Israeli army as a paratrooper, and remains enlisted as an army reservist.
When his parents struggled financially after his father’s release from prison, his lawyers said, Tilson put aside his dream of becoming a doctor and went to work at various jobs to support the family. In 2013, he founded a real estate company.
His lawyers describe him as a hands-on parent and tireless caretaker, and they say that imprisonment would have a horrible impact on his wife and four children, ages 6 months to 10 years.
Tilson has paid back $350,000 of the $650,000 he stole.
“Eli is painfully aware that his actions in 2019 were terribly wrong, and he longs to make amends,” his attorneys told the judge. “Most importantly, four young children need their father as they confront the unique challenges that they will face.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney James McMahon recommended a prison term within the 18-24-month guideline range calculated by U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services.
Instead of investing the money, he states in a sentencing memo, “he stole it immediately.”
The theft was not an impromptu or single thoughtless act. The month-long scheme included nearly 30 wire transfers and numerous emails and telephone calls. He created false documents and repeatedly lied to the investors.
The crime was a serious abuse of trust, McMahon said. Both victims had previously invested with Tilson. One victim told a probation officer that he gave Tilson his life savings and was destroyed financially by the crime.
Judge Briccetti also ordered Tilson to forfeit $300,000 in ill-gotten gains and pay back the investors. Tilson must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on Sept. 15.
