BUSTED – Man gets 4 years for faking his own death
Marcus Schrenker got four years for faking his own death.
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Remember the guy who flew a plane from Indiana to Florida and then parachuted out to let the plane crash and try to fool everyone into thinking he was dead? Well, the genius was given 4 years in a prison by a Florida judge.
Marcus Schrenker, 38, sobbed and gave a rambling speech during a four-hour sentencing hearing. He was in over his head in debt and was trying to create a new life – not even telling his wife about the scheme.
The judge ordered Schrenker to pay nearly $900,000 in restitution to the company that financed the single-engine Piper Malibu he destroyed and $35,000 to the U.S. Coast Guard for an extensive search and rescue effort. And his troubles apparently won’t end there. Prosecutors in Hamilton County, Ind., have Schrenker up on 11 felony counts of fraudulent sale of securities.
Schrenker was appealing for a light sentence saying he “choked” under the great pressure he was under as a financial manager. The the judge rejected Schrenker’s request for a shorter sentence, saying he agreed with a prison psychiatrist who diagnosed him as a narcissist who lacked empathy and desired attention from women. Schrenker was known for living the high life with a 10,000-square-foot home in an upscale neighborhood, luxury cars and planes.
But the U.S. Attorney said Schrenker’s behavior was part of a lifelong pattern of lies and manipulation. He lied separately to his stepmother and father in recent jail phone calls. He also told a girlfriend he was entering a witness protection program and wouldn’t be returning to Indiana. He later sent her a cryptic text message asking her to meet him at a place they had vacationed in the Florida Keys.
His wife has filed for divorce.