Andrew Yao sentenced for false oaths in bankruptcy deposition

Updating a story we reported on here and here,  Andrew N. Yao, former Student Finance Corp. chief executive, was sentenced in the District of Delaware to a year and a day in prison on each of two counts of making a false oath in his bankruptcy case. 

Yao lied twice during a 2003 bankruptcy deposition when questioned about two large prepetition wire transfers that Yao claimed were for routine maintenance on aircraft he owned and for a family party for his ailing grandfather.  In fact, the payments were made as a gift to his former Playboy Playmate mistress and to satisfy casino gambling debts incurred during a Las Vegas outing with the same woman.  Yao admitted during trial that he lied about the wire transfers but defended the bankruptcy fraud charges by arguing that he lied not to defraud creditors but to cover up his marital infidelity.  The jury convicted him on both counts.

Yao expressed "deep remorse" for his crimes during sentencing before U.S. District Judge Gregory Sleet.  But Judge Sleet concluded  that Yao did not adequately accept responsibility for his conduct (a common occurrence for defendants convicted after trial) and sentenced Yao to a year and a day on each of the two false oath counts.  The terms will run concurrently.  Yao has appealed the sentence to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.