Schrenker to plead guilty to securities fraud

A former money manager convicted of trying to fake his own death in a Florida plane crash has agreed to plead guilty to securities fraud charges in Indiana.

Marcus Schrenker could face 10 years in prison in exchange for pleading guilty to five of 11 counts under a proposed plea agreement with Hamilton County prosecutors. He also could be required to pay more than $600,000 in restitution.

Schrenker is accused of bilking friends, family members and other investors out of millions of dollars. More than $30 million in claims have been filed against him, but a court-ordered auction of the financier's property in June brought in far less. The sale of Schrenker's $1.2 million Geist home netted just $100,000.

A hearing on the deal is set for Sept. 15 in Hamilton Superior Court in the Indianapolis suburb of Noblesville. A judge still has to accept Schrenker's plea before the agreement can take effect.

Schrenker was sentenced last year to four years in federal prison for a January 2009 Florida plane crash in which he tried to fake his own death.

The only remaining dispute in the Indiana case is whether Schrenker should serve his sentence here at the same time as a four-year federal sentence out of Florida, said Jeff Wehmueller, administrative chief deputy prosecutor in Hamilton County.

"He wants it to run concurrently, and I think otherwise," Wehmueller said. "We believe there is a solid legal argument for consecutive."

The Associated Press left a phone message seeking comment from Schrenker's defense attorney.

Schrenker was arrested at a Florida campground in January 2009, two days after officials say he put his plane on autopilot and bailed out over Alabama to flee personal and financial problems. The plane crashed about 200 miles away.

He has claimed he was under psychiatric care and on medication for more than a year beforehand. He said he had been mentally incompetent due to stress and a prescription drug problem.

Under the agreement filed Aug. 10, Schrenker would agree to undergo psychiatric treatment as ordered by his probation officer and not to offer financial advice or work in financial management.