Doug Allen Sentenced to 57 Months in Federal Prison

Doug Allen, former president of Legendary Auctions and an executive with the now-defunct Mastro Auctions, has been sentenced to 57 months in federal prison by Judge Ronald Guzman in Chicago on Feb. 8.

Prosecutors sought the sentence handed down by Guzman after Allen pled guilty to one count of mail fraud in a long-running investigation involving shill bidding and other illegal activity which also included trying to tip off another person of an FBI investigation during Allen's own legal troubles.

Bill Mastro, former head of Mastro Auctions was sentenced to 20 months last year.

Allen will report to prison in May at a location yet to be determined. Mark Theotikos, the fourth member of Mastro Auctions to be indicted in this investigation, is scheduled to be sentenced in late April.

Defense attorneys had sought an 18-month prison sentence for Allen, but Judge Guzman wanted to stress that the illegal activity continued by Allen after he knew of an ongoing investigation of his business and the illegal FBI tip-off of John Rogers, who is under his own investigation for a long list of misdeeds.

In response to the 18-month sentence request, prosecutors filed additional paperwork that came to light the week before the sentencing showcasing “reckless and obstructive conduct in sabotaging an FBI investigation.” It was also determined that Allen had multiple opportunities to end the fraud scheme but continued to do so. There was also the sale of items that were touted as original but had been altered in some fashion to appear more valuable.

Allen was also fined $20,000 but restitution was not awarded in this case. In an article by the New York Daily News, Allen’s attorney Valarie Hays said, “This is not what we were seeking, but Doug has accepted the sentence and is now preparing to get through this and return to his family.”