Chris Kirchner, who nearly purchased Derby County, has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for fraud.
The American was ordered to pay $65,415,938.12 in restitution, with his sentence to be followed by three years of supervised release.
In a trial in January, the 36-year-old was found guilty of four counts of wire fraud and a further seven counts of money laundering.
Despite his attorney asking for a sentence of five years, the judge ruled that 20 years was more appropriate.
Kirchner came close to buying Derby back in 2022 after the club were placed into administration.
Named as the preferred bidder in April 2022, the American was all-but set to be named as the new owner of the Rams and was given ‘conditional approval’ to buy the club.
This approval was based on his ability to make an initial payment of £22million.
However, six weeks after being named as the preferred bidder, Kirchner withdrew his interest due to being unable to make that initial payment.
This came just a few months after he withdrew from a deal to purchase fellow EFL side, Preston North End.
As a result, Derby were left in an even more dire situation with the club painfully close to going out of business altogether.
2
Thankfully for the Rams, they found a buyer and were saved from extinction in July 2022.
That season Derby finished seventh in League One, before securing automatic promotion to the Championship last term.