A federal judge has sentenced a California man to two and a half years in prison and ordered him to pay full restitution to a Glenview resident from whom he swindled $2 million, according to a news release from the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.
U.S. District Judge Andrea R. Wood sentenced Raymond Echavez Villamor, 62, of Newport Beach, Calif., to 30 months in prison on May 5, and ordered him to pay full restitution to his victim.
Villamor first pleaded guilty to a federal wire fraud charge in 2025 and has been awaiting a sentence.
According to the office of the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, Villamor “fraudulently solicited” the $2 million investment by claiming to be an investment advisor and making “false representations” about the investment to his victim over the course of six months in 2023.
Villamor promised the Glenview resident the money would be eventually returned, with profits made, according to a department news release.
Villamor later used the money to purchase vintage automobiles, among other personal items, according to the U.S. Attorney’s news release.
Villamor also used funds from the Glenview victim to repay other investors he accepted money from, according to the news release, in classic “Ponzi-scheme conduct.”
Villamor’s sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Andrew S. Boutros and Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI Douglas S. DePodesta.