But three years later, the Idaho Falls resident says he can't remember anything that would have troubled him about Farmington resident Phillip T. Jessee, sentenced this week to two indeterminate prison terms of 1-15 years, set to run concurrently, for his role in a scam that wiped out scores of nest eggs.

"Because several friends had a positive experience with him over a fairly lengthy time period, I felt pretty comfortable investing my money with him," Stabler said.

Victims say Jessee peddled a low-risk investment, promising stellar returns of 6 percent to 10 percent per month - or more. Their money would be used to fund real-estate loans.

Jessee, 44, not only failed to provide those returns to those who invested in his companies from 1998 to 2005, but investors lost most or all of their contributions as well.

Officials say the scam is common in Utah. In reality, investors who come on board early are paid with money from later investors. At some point, the scam typically falls apart, and investors lose most or all of their money.

"It ended up being a giant Ponzi scheme," said Assistant Attorney General Neal Gunnarson.

Authorities say Jessee solicited money from new investors even after he began to miss payments to earlier investors in late 2004. He stopped making payments altogether in early 2005.

They also say Jessee failed to disclose to investors that he had filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy and that he faced prior civil lawsuits with judgments totaling nearly $600,000, which would have been a red flag to many investors. Perhaps most importantly, he did not tell later investors that his securities license had expired in October 2002 and that his investment was never registered with the Utah Division of Securities.

Keith Woodwell, director of the Utah Securities Division, said the case is an excellent example of why investors should call the division to check out prospective investments - and the people peddling them.

"When you run across something like this, if it sounds fishy, check it out. We're more than happy to do the legwork to find out if this is a legitimate offer," he said.

Whether victims will get restitution remains to be seen. Jessee has been ordered to pay the entire amount lost, but victims such as Stabler aren't counting on seeing much, if any, of their money.

For his part, Jessee could be out of prison in as little as one year.

lesley@sltrib.com