SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A judge reduced the sentence of a Utah businessman after the man tearfully apologized for his “foolish” and “selfish” actions that caused the demise of his multimillion-dollar internet business and landed him behind bars.
A jury convicted Jeremy Johnson in 2016 of eight counts of making false statements to a bank in connection with his once-thriving online marketing company, iWorks.
U.S. District Judge Dee Benson on Wednesday reduced the sentence of Johnson from 135 months to 87 months, or a little more than seven years.
Benson says he lowered the sentence because Johnson took responsibility for his crime, showed remorse and changed his attitude. Still, he chastised him for being “arrogant and cocky” in acting as his own lawyer during his trial.
Johnson already has served about 2 1/2 years and is incarcerated in a federal prison in Safford, Arizona.
