Georgia executives handed light sentence for role in historic $380M Ponzi scheme: ‘I was a coward’

Two conspiring financial group executives who conned thousands of victims in the largest Ponzi scheme in Georgia history were handed light prison sentences — as one con man declared he was a “coward” for the heartless crimes.

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Ex-Drive Planning Chief Operating Officer David Bradford and Chief Administrative Officer Julie Edwards helped CEO Todd Burkholter orchestrate a plot that defrauded over 2,000 investors out of $380 million to help fund their lavish lifestyles.

Bradford and Edwards were sentenced to measly four years and two years behind bars for their roles in the nefarious ruse that spanned several years, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

The company, now in receivership, marketed several investment opportunities for prospective investors, including “Real Estate Acceleration Loan” opportunity (“REAL”) and the “Cash Out Real Estate Fund” (“CORE Fund”).

The executives told their targets that the CORE Fund provided “100% Passive Income from Tax Liens” while guaranteeing a return of 10% every six months or a 22% return per year for up to three years, federal prosecutors said.

Drive Planning executives never told investors that money received from the CORE Fund after December 9, 2022, wasn’t invested as they claimed they would.

Bradford, a 53-year-old pastor and father of six, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a $4 million case.

He claimed he was remorseful for his crimes and acknowledged that he had hurt his victims during his sentencing hearing Wednesday.

“I was a coward,” Bradford said in court, according to the outlet. “I participated in that fraud and I benefited from it, and there’s no excuse for what I did. I deceived myself and, in turn, I deceived the people who trusted me.”

US District Court Judge Tiffany Johnson, who handed down the four-year prison term, accepted Bradford’s remorsefulness but also said he had defrauded thousands of people, including a large number he had met at church.

“They relied on you because of your faith and because they thought you were a good man who would not lead them astray,” Johnson said Wednesday. “It’s a really serious crime because there’s a lot of people whose lives were turned upside down.”

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Attorneys for Bradford argued for a three-year sentence, saying the former COO hadn’t been a part of the entire scheme and even lost money as an investor, the outlet reported.

Some of the victims lost their retirement savings and children’s college funds, while others were forced to remortgage their homes

Bradford was ordered to pay $4.2 million in restitution, a similar amount Drive Planning received as part of the CORE Fund scheme.

Edwards pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in March after initially entering a not guilty plea.

She used $630,000 of the investors’ funds to purchase a home in Cumming, Ga., the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Edwards was told to vacate the home and Drive Planning’s receiver took it over as part of a civil case against the company filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Burkholter, 54, pleaded guilty to wire fraud back in January after being caught masterminding the $380 million scheme between September 2020 and June 2024, out of the company he had founded.

He used the funds for luxurious purchases including $2 million yacht, $2.1 million luxury condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and $800,000 spent on multiple luxury vehicles that included a 2020 Prevost Marathon motorcoach and two 2024 Land Rovers.

His sentencing is scheduled for Friday.

As part of the plea deal, federal prosecutors promised to recommend 17 and a half years of imprisonment for Burkholter.

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