Schwartz’s statement was in stark contrast to one made by former client Morissette, who also participated in a victim statement at the hearing, telling the judge that if Schwartz hadn’t been caught he would have bankrupted her within three years, and “He did this in a long, systematic, drawn-out and sinister manner” that called for a tough sentence. Still, Judge Dolly Gee decided to stick to sentencing guidelines and slapped him with six years in federal prison, even though he could have been sentenced to more than 20. In addition to the prison stint, Schwartz was also ordered to pay back $8.6 million in restitution to his victims, which include Morissette and five other unnamed clients at GSO Business Management where he worked between May, 2010 and January, 2014. During that time he embezzled millions from his clients who hired him to provide financial guidance. In a recent Hollywood Reporter mea culpa published last month, he attributed this escalating embezzlement scheme to a gambling addiction he inherited from his father: Once again, another party had a different take on Schwartz’s trajectory to be expressed before the court. This time it was Assistant U.S. Attorney Ranee Katzenstein, who said in court documents that “[e]very expression of remorse he has made and every purported act of self-improvement he has taken occurred only after he realized he had no ‘choice’ to do otherwise.”
