Jonathan Schwartz – the ex-manager to Alanis Morissette and several other stars – has been sentenced to six years in prison. He was accused and indicted for crimes of wire fraud, filing a false tax return and embezzlement from his star clients.
He stole $5 million USD from the “Ironic” singer between May 2010 and January 2014 and listed the withdrawals as “personal expenses”.
Upon pleading guilty, Schwartz asked for a sentence of one year and one day in prison, followed by another year of house arrest and 2,000 hours of community service. An open letter Schwartz wrote earlier this year explained that all of his wrongdoings were the effect of his addiction to gambling.
MORE: Alanis Morissette's Ex Business Manager Admits Stealing $5M From Singer
“At first, I ‘borrowed’ a little from clients, with the hopes that I would pay them back if I won that night’s bet. That snowballed, and as I kept losing, I kept stealing. I kept telling myself that I just needed one lucky break, and I’ll pay them back…When I was finally caught, a bright spotlight shined on my deplorable conduct. I could not hide any longer and hit rock bottom. By seeing how pathetic I had become, I finally got the courage to ask for help.”
The judge was not sympathetic to his story, saying that Schwartz was “sophisticated” and “intelligent”, and could have stopped gambling at any time. After his apology, Morisette responded: “I would be apprehensive to believe any words that come out of Jonathan Schwartz’s mouth.”
He’ll have a lot to mull over while sitting in prison.