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Trials and Arbitration
Pastor gets 10 years in prison for $7-million pyramid scheme

The pastor of a San Fernando church has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for pursuading scores of mostly low-income families to invest in what turned out to be a $7-million Ponzi scheme. Pastor Luis Serna, 62, was sentenced Monday to 10 years and one month in prison and ordered to pay $4.6 million in restitution. Families wrote to the court prior to the sentencing that they had lost their life savings when they invested their money with Serna, who promised annual returns as high as 20%, according to court documents. "We invested our retirement money to Luis," one victim wrote. "Now we are less hopeful [and] fearful of our future due to this...

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