Dawn Bennett appeals conviction of running $20 million Ponzi

After being sentenced to 20 years in prison at the end of last month, former financial adviser Dawn Bennett is seeking an appeal to her conviction on 17 federal charges related to a $20 million Ponzi scheme.

Her attorney filed the notice last Friday. Ms. Bennett is asking the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review her case.

Ms. Bennett, 56, who formerly operated Bennett Financial Group Services in Chevy Chase, Md., was found guilty in October of all charges against her, including conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud and making false statements on a loan application.

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In one instance she spent $500,000 a year in clients’ money to pay for a suite at the Dallas Cowboys football stadium. According to the FBI, Ms. Bennett had many times cast a “hoodoo spell” in hopes of paranormally silencing the Securities and Exchange Commission attorneys investigating Bennett.

She received the maximum sentence in addition to five years of supervised probation upon her release.

Judge Paula Xinis ordered that Ms. Bennett must pay restitution of $14.5 million and forfeiture of $14.3 million.

Ms. Bennett could not be reached for comment. Her current address in court filings is listed as a prison in Baltimore. The attorney who filed her appeal, William E. Zapf, did not return a call on Thursday for comment.