Hartford - Rejecting claims that F. Robert LaSaracina was impaired by a gambling addiction that caused him to defraud investors and the U.S. government of several million dollars, a federal judge Tuesday sentenced the former Norwich accountant to more than five years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Free on $500,000 bond since his arrest in October 2010, LaSaracina, 60, must begin serving his sentence Feb. 8.

Judge Christopher F. Droney, recently elevated from U.S. District Court to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said evidence offered by LaSaracina's attorneys had not proved a "causal link" between LaSaracina's gambling addiction and his criminal misdeeds. Droney also found that other potentially mitigating factors, such as LaSaracina's years of service to his family and community, also did not warrant a "downward departure" from sentencing guidelines.

The guidelines, which the government recommended in a plea agreement LaSaracina signed off on in July, called for a prison term of 63 to 78 months. Droney, who was not bound by the guidelines, sentenced LaSaracina to 63 months for wire fraud and to 60 months for failure to pay taxes, the sentences to be served concurrently.

"This was a massive fraud inflicted on many victims over many years," Droney said.

The judge ordered LaSaracina to make restitution of more than $1.5 million to dozens of investors victimized by a Ponzi scheme LaSaracina masterminded and to pay more than $734,000 in taxes he withheld from employees of his accounting firm between 2005 and 2010 but never forwarded to the Internal Revenue Service.

Droney chose not to set a restitution figure for beneficiaries of a Norwich estate LaSaracina defrauded while serving as the estate's trustee from 1997 to 2010.

LaSaracina's attorneys and the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael McGarry, were unable to agree on the amount of the losses LaSaracina inflicted on the estate known as the Kauppinen Trust. While LaSaracina had stipulated to $1.2 million in the plea agreement, McGarry believed the figure to be more than $2.2 million. Earlier, a probate-court judge in Norwich had established a loss of $4.2 million, which included "future costs."

Given the varying amounts, Droney said a decision on restitution for the trust beneficiaries was better left to state courts, where civil litigation is pending.

"We're happy with that," Waterford attorney Linda Kidder, conservator of the estate of Ilona Kauppinen, one of the trust beneficiaries, said of Droney's decision. "We felt that Judge Droney really listened to our issues and didn't want to further victimize the trust beneficiaries by setting artificially low numbers.

"It's been a devastating couple of years for the Kauppinen family and the other victim-investors - and an equally devastating time for the LaSaracina family," Kidder said. "It's very sad that nobody else stepped forward in the last 10 years to stop Bob from his all-consuming addiction."

McGarry said LaSaracina has done much harm to his victims and to members of his community. He called the $734,000 LaSaracina failed to pay the IRS "a staggering amount."

Droney condemned LaSaracina's defrauding of the more than two dozen victims of his Ponzi scheme, who gave him money for high-return "investments" he never made, in some cases creating phony documents to cover his tracks.

"His ransacking of the trust is also chilling," the judge said.

Before sentencing, LaSaracina's brother Anthony and son Christopher spoke on LaSaracina's behalf, as did Robert Ramsdell, former chairman of the board of The William W. Backus Hospital, and Jeremiah Lowney, founding president of the Norwich-based Haitian Health Foundation.

Anthony LaSaracina described a "big brother" who repeatedly came to the aid of family members beset by illness and misfortune. He said his brother has been destroyed by a gambling addiction he cannot control.

Christopher LaSaracina called his father "a problem-solver, a fighter," and said his incarceration would be particularly harmful to a grandchild with special needs with whom LaSaracina has a close relationship.

LaSaracina's attorney, Hubert Santos, cited the potential impact on the child in arguing against a "long incarceration" for his client.

"How to explain the two Bob LaSaracinas?" Santos said, addressing Droney. "We have to turn to the medical evidence."

Santos said LaSaracina has suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and bipolar disorder in the past, conditions exacerbated by traumatic events in his life. He said a doctor who has treated LaSaracina said the conditions made his gambling addiction worse than it would otherwise have been.

LaSaracina's addiction, Santos said, impaired his ability to control behavior that he knew was wrong. "He spent an awful lot of time at Mohegan Sun," Santos said.

Tax documents attached to a presentencing memorandum filed by the government show LaSaracina reported gambling winnings of more than $70 million from 2000 to 2009. Over the same period, he reported losing almost as much.

Droney ordered that LaSaracina start making restitution payments of $250 a month during his supervised release from prison.

b.hallenbeck@theday.com