Victims try to move on after Baccala scam

A Petaluma man was sentenced to 20 years in prison and forced to pay a $6.4 million fine for bilking dozens of local residents out of their retirement savings.

But prosecutors, as well as many of the victims, said a harsher punishment was more fitting for 73-year-old Aldo Baccala, who could be out in eight years — and who is said to have no money left to pay the fine or compensate his victims.

The sentencing came Monday in Sonoma County Superior Court in Santa Rosa after Baccala pleaded no contest in March to 141 counts, including charges of fraud and grand theft with enhancements for white collar crime and elder abuse. The sentence capped a two-year criminal case that didn't require a jury trial due to Baccala's plea deal.

Prosecutors said Baccala, a well-known local real estate agent with longstanding ties in Petaluma, lured investors with the promise of large returns on real estate projects. But the money from some investors went to paying back others, until the scheme finally unraveled in 2008. Many of Baccala's 55 victims were elderly and lost large portions of their retirement savings.

Among them were Petaluma residents Charlie and Barbara Moller, who say they lost a six-figure sum to Baccala after becoming convinced that his investments were sound.

"We thought we were doing what we should be doing, setting ourselves up for retirement," Barbara Moller told the Argus-Courier. On Tuesday, she added that she attended Monday's sentencing and addressed the court.

"I talked about our experiences and how it in some ways made things more difficult, because of course we lost a lot of money," she said. She was quick to add that many of Baccala's victims, some of them good friends of the Mollers, lost much more, including their homes.

Restitution will be discussed at a future court date, Moller said. "But of course it's meaningless because there's no money for him to pay us back."

Baccala should stay behind bars until he does just that, said Petaluma resident James Mattei, who lost $1 million in the Ponzi scheme. Mattei and others won a civil lawsuit against Baccala in 2009, but expect to recover only a fraction of their losses.

"Because of the people who lost their golden years, I think it's appropriate you spend yours in the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation," said Superior Court Judge Gary Medvigy as he handed down the sentence, according to the Press Democrat.

Overall, prosecutors say, Baccala took at least $14 million from investors, and lost it all in lavish personal spending, bad stock market decisions and in trying to pay off some of his victims with investments from other victims.

The Press Democrat reported that Baccala cried after Monday's sentencing, delivering a brief statement in which he apologized and claimed he was only trying to "do the best I possibly could with the investments to benefit everyone."

Baccala is certain to serve less than the full 20-year sentence due to sentencing laws and time already served. Had he rejected the plea deal, his case would have gone to trial, leading to the possibility of a 160-year sentence were he found guilty.

Charlie Moller said he and his wife were trying to put the whole thing behind them. "We pretty much decided to just seek a closure on our own, and pick up our losses and continue on with our lives," he said.

(Contact Don Frances at don.frances@arguscourier.com)