NEW HAVEN — A former Connecticut man who defrauded investors out of $200,000 with a pair of investment scams, including one to open a pizzeria in a U.S. consulate in Iraq, has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.
Federal prosecutors say former Wilton resident Joseph Morris, currently of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was also sentenced Tuesday to three years of probation and ordered to pay restitution.
Authorities say the 52-year-old Morris in 2011 told investors, many of them veterans, he had a deal to open a pizzeria in the U.S. consulate in Erbil, Iraq. He also told investors he was starting a business to distribute and install window film on vehicles and buildings to protect them from explosions.
Prosecutors say neither opportunity existed.
Morris pleaded guilty to wire fraud in June.
