A former Black Hawk County insurance agent will spend 15 years in prison for taking money from over 50 clients. Fifty-one-year-old Jack Straw was sentenced in U.S. District Court after admitting he used his insurance business for schemes involving annuities, insurance, stocks and land deals.
Straw who now lives in Cedar Rapids pled guilty to four counts of wire fraud, along with one count each of mail fraud, possessing a forge security and money laundering. A judge found Straw preyed on the friendship of the clients to defraud them of over three million dollars.
The judge said Straw’s fraud was a “crushing blow” to the victims — many who were elderly. A restitution hearing has been set for December 16th.