D'Arpino Sentenced to Three Years in State Prison

HACKENSACK -- After being on the run from authorities for 13 years, Douglas D'Arpino was sentenced Friday to three years in state prison. 

D'Arpino who was arrested in Las Vegas over the summer will have to pay restitution of $510,000. At the time of his arrest he had been using the alias Paul D. Martin while evading authorities following a 1997 indictment.

D'Arpino and his partner Steven Stackpole, 72, of Oradell, defrauded investors in the early 1990's out of approximately $1 million. He  on  Jan. 3 to a second-degree charge of conspiracy. Stackpole was previously sentenced to six years in state prison in 1998 in connection with the scheme. He was released on parole in 2003.

D’Arpino and Stackpole were indicted in 1997 as a result of an investigation by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice.

During the 1990's, Stackpole operated an investment and insurance company called Stackpole Designs Agency in River Edge. Stackpole and D'Arpino conspired between 1989 and 1994 to get clients of the Designs Agency company who had retirement and investment accounts to invest approximately $1.9 million in various fraudulent schemes.

One scheme involved “wishing wells” that the defendants claimed would be placed in malls to collect money for a charity that published information about missing children. A number of wishing wells were placed in businesses, but no money was provided to the charity.

D’Arpino and Stackpole promised a 15 percent rate of return to investors. In reality, they charged investors undisclosed fees of up to 20 percent and diverted investors funds for their personal use.  Of the $1.9 million in invested funds, approximately $500,000 was returned to investors as “dividends.” The remaining $1.4 million was stolen. Some investors lost their life savings. The investors included several firefighter associations.