Stoughton man pleads guilty to fraud

A Stoughton man has pleaded guilty to fraud in a scheme in which he was accused of gaming investors out of more than $860,000 by telling them he could obtain valuable options for Home Depot stock at favorable prices.

Richard L. Mortelliti, 44, faces as many as 20 years in prison, three years' probation and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on three counts of mail fraud Dec. 18. U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner presided over the case.

Mortelliti's scheme, according to federal prosecutors, consisted of conning investors with claims he could obtain Home Depot shares through stock options because he had been contracted by the company to build new Home Depot stores. That deal, he told his marks, would allow him to buy Home Depot options that he could hold for two years and then cash in -- netting as many at 19 shares for every one option he redeemed.

Duped investors then ponied up just shy of a million dollars to get a piece of the action, but the only action to be had was by Mortelliti, prosecutors said: he spent the cash on travel, hotels, food and jewelry.
(By Keith Reed, Globe staff)