Heather Keens of Narvon was the first witness today to tell a federal judge what Wesley Snyder did to her family.

As she rose in a crowded courtroom to offer her testimony, others waiting their turn grimly urged, "Go get him."

She did.

At turns angry and tearful, Keens unleashed her fury on Snyder, a 72-year-old Berks County mortgage broker who defrauded more than 800 people out of almost $30 million.

"This has completely unraveled the way I look at human beings," Keens, who lost $140,000 to Snyder, told him. "You have raped me of my trust in human beings and a good night's sleep and for what? I hope it was worth it."

Ignoring Snyder's pleas for leniency, U.S. District Chief Judge Yvette Kane sentenced Snyder to 12 years and two months in prison, a sentence within the federal guidelines. She also ordered him to make full restitution.

The judge also summarily turned down Snyder's request to report for sentencing at a later date. He was led from the courtroom in handcuffs, as about 50 of his victims watched.

Before Snyder left, the judge told him, "I've never seen anything like this."

The loss to his victims, she said, was "staggering."

Kane also said she did not hear true remorse from Snyder, who told the judge that "mistakes were made," but not that he was the one who made them.

In her testimony before Snyder's sentencing, Keens, 41, said she and her husband, Robert, 44, thought they had paid off their mortgage in 2005.

"Imagine our horror," she said, recounting their reaction when they learned this fall that they actually owed $140,000 to a lender they never heard of before then.

"Since September, our life has been quite a nightmare," she said.

Snyder's victims urged Kane to throw the book at the mortgage broker.

They spoke emotionally about the toll of his scam: retirements deferred, stress, physical problems, sleepless nights, not being able to afford to buy a guitar for a 13-year-old son's birthday

Today's sentencing came nine months after prosecutors discovered  that Snyder, from Oley, had taken nearly $30 million from more than 800 borrowers, including 300 from Lancaster County, and 31 investors, including three local ones.

Snyder fooled borrowers into thinking they had shorter, smaller mortgages while sticking them with longer, bigger ones and keeping some of their payments.

He also made investors think they were funding the mortgages and were destined to get immense returns.

The result, Roger Shinton of Landisville said: "What we thought of as the American dream became the American nightmare."

After nine victims testified, Snyder had his chance to speak. He asked to speak directly to the victims but Kane told him to speak to her instead.

"I will never be able to repay victims, like you heard this morning, for my very, very poor judgment in running these businesses," said Snyder, his voice cracking.

He acknowledged the "pain and suffering" his actions caused to the victims and their families, as well as his own employees of his six companies that went belly up after the scam unraveled in September.

"I'm so sorry," said Snyder, a gray-haired man wearing thick glasses and a dark-blue suit. "I sincerely apologize."

For the victims, it seemed too little, too late.

Norman Johanson is 70. The Manheim Township man said he likely will have to work into his 80s to pay off a home he thought he owned, after Snyder squandered his money. He owes more than $200,000.

Johanson said his wife has experienced breathing and heart problems due to Snyder's actions.

"I'm either going to lose my house by foreclosure or have to work an additional 12 years," he said, adding, "That, to me, is a sentence."

He told the judge that Snyder deserves an equal sentence.

Shirley Lucas told the judge that her husband died 10 months after they bought her home and she is not physically able to work to pay off the $150,000 that Snyder took from her.

"I don't know if I'll be able to keep my house," she said.

Before the sentencing, Richard Anderson, 64, of Landisville, said, "I'm here to ask for no leniency. I want him put away for as long as possible. He robbed us blind."

Snyder had filed court papers a week ago asking Kane to impose a lighter prison sentence than federal sentencing guidelines.

In that filing, Snyder raised a host of arguments, including his age, bad heart, charitable works, cooperation with prosecutors, deep remorse and acceptance of responsibility for his actions.

One of his victims today spoke outside the courtroom about his own health problems.

Richard Grenoble, of Northampton, north of Allentown, has cancer and is on disability. When he found out he was ill, the 61-year-old said he told Snyder he wanted to reduce his mortgage payments so his wife could continue to afford to pay for their home if he died.

He ultimately lost $116,000.

"Knowing I had this condition, he still did this to me," he said, adding "This bothered me more than the cancer."

"I feel kind of helpless."

(Staff writers Ryan Robinson and Stephen Zook contributed to this report.)


Staff writer Cindy Stauffer can be reached at cstauffer@LNPnews.com or 481-6024.