While David Harriett was in court to plead guilty to a mail fraud charge Wednesday, his lawyer told the judge his client has terminal cancer and has just months left to live.
Sandy Weller doesn't have a whole lot of sympathy for him, saying he "literally he's raped all these people."
Weller is just one of David Harriett's victims. So is Linda Cator. Both invested their money with Harriett's company and found themselves swindled. The FBI said he'd been running an elaborate Ponzi scheme the last 14 years.
Weller said Harriett "looked me in the eye and had every intention of scamming me."
Cator said she had known the retired GM Lordstown supervisor for years and admitted she was leery of investing with him at first. But she said "the more I knew that (those who) invested that got their money back, it seemed safe to me."
Initially, Cator said she was told her money was going into new restaurant franchises. When Harriett showed her brochures about a new recreation complex he was planning along a stretch of state Route 193 in Vienna, she convinced her friend Weller to invest as well.
They both started worrying last fall when they tried to get their money back.
"We started seeing lawsuits in the paper and then we said 'oh boy'," said Cator.
Between the two of them, more than $30,000 was lost. But they admit others lost many times that amount, some their entire life savings. Investigators believe in all, Harriett fleeced about 200 people out of close to $7 million. Both Weller and Cator are now left wondering where all the money went.
Harriett's website includes a photo of he and his staff and claims they were taken on a recent Caribbean cruise.
Dozens of Harriett's victims showed up in court for Wednesday's plea.
Afterward, they met briefly with prosecutors who told them Harriett will return to court for sentencing in August.
For now, Harriett is free on bond, but Weller and Cator think he ought to be behind bars.
