Octogenarian Gets 12 Years for Loan Scam : Crime: Judge says she weighed his age and health against extent of fraud, his criminal record and role in scheme. Prosecutors say he and others tried to bilk investors of $80 million.

An 80-year-old man with eight previous felony convictions and longtime ties to organized-crime figures was sentenced Tuesday to more than 12 years in federal prison for his key role in a multimillion-dollar loan-fee scam.

Noting that the loan scheme victims are unlikely to get any of their money back, U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall sentenced Milton Zucker Mende of Beverly Hills to 151 months in prison. In determining the length of the sentence, which under federal guidelines could have been up to 15 years, Marshall said she weighed Mende’s age and failing health against the extent of the fraud, his long criminal record and his role in organizing the scam.

Prosecutors Mark Holscher and James Dutton, assistant U.S. attorneys, said the scope of the scheme--Mende and other perpetrators attempted to defraud investors of more than $80 million--puts it among the largest such cases in the nation’s history.

The prosecutors, along with the state attorney general’s office, the Los Angeles Police Department’s Organized Crime Division, the U.S. Postal Service and the Internal Revenue Service, worked on the case for four years.

Under the scheme, which prosecutors said Mende organized while on probation for a virtually identical scam, Mende and several others set up dummy corporations with bogus assets. They promised to lend money to hundreds of business operators--such as film makers, real estate developers and contractors--who paid fees in advance for loans they never received.

Mende has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center downtown since his December, 1992, conviction on 40 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. He has steadfastly maintained his innocence throughout the court proceedings, but at Tuesday’s sentencing he remained silent. Through his attorney, public defender Anthony Eaglin, Mende also declined a reporter’s interview request.

Wearing a brown zip-up jacket and sandals and walking with the aid of a crutch, Mende said through Eaglin only that he wanted to be assigned to a prison near Las Vegas so he could be near his wife and other family members. Judge Marshall agreed to recommend that to federal prison officials.

Five others were indicted in the loan scam. Robert Steven Turman of Miami and Samuel Longo of Salt Lake City have been convicted and are awaiting sentencing. Retired three-star Maj. Gen. Carrol McColpin, a World War II flying ace and decorated war hero, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to probation and ordered to perform 400 hours of community service.

The other two defendants, Jackson Stacey and Rocco Passanante also pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.