Convicted Anchorage fraudster enters federal prison

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Convicted fraudster Garrett Elder is now jailed in a minimum security federal prison in Duluth, Minnesota.

He was charged with defrauding more than 175 people of more than $26 million in a Ponzi-like scheme. He convinced clients they were making significant returns on investments, but Elder was losing or spending most of the money. He agreed to a plea deal in May 2023 that called for him to serve a seven-year sentence.

But many of his victims showed up in court for sentencing to demand a longer sentence and the judge agreed. In November, he sentenced Elder to 10 years in prison.

Even that longer sentence did not please all the victims.

Mark Tittle said at that time that Elder cost him his entire retirement savings.

“And it’s just been traded for 10 of his. That seems like something you can’t really call fair,” Tittle said after sentencing.

Elder finally began his sentence last month at the Duluth Prison Camp in Minnesota. The camp is a minimum-security facility where prisoners live in dorm-like rooms. The prison holds about 450 inmates and almost all are non-violent, white-collar criminals like Elder.

If Elder follows all the rules, his sentence would end in August 2032, meaning Elder would serve 7 1/2 years in prison.