Former Hollywood Executive Gets 6 Years Prison for Defrauding BlackRock Fund
NEW YORK—The former head of a Hollywood movie distributor whose films have starred actors such as Halle Berry and Matthew McConaughey was sentenced on Friday to six years in prison after he pleaded guilty to defrauding a BlackRock Inc. investment fund.
William Sadleir, who ran Aviron Pictures LLC, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Paul Engelmayer in Manhattan, and also ordered to pay $31.6 million in forfeiture and restitution.
Sadleir, 68, of Beverly Hills, had pleaded guilty in January to two counts of wire fraud over schemes related to the closed-end BlackRock Multi-Sector Income Trust Fund, which had invested $75 million in Aviron….