ORLANDO, Fla. - Lou Pearlman, the man who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, was sentenced Wednesday to 25 years in federal prison for bilking thousands of investors out of their life savings. He allegedly swindled $300 million from investors and banks since the early 1980s.
Many of the victims were Pearlman's relatives, friends and retirees in their 70s or 80s who lost everything.
Pearlman said he meant to pay back all the investors, and noted he had returned about $103 million.