‘Fueled by greed’: Former NC political megadonor Greg Lindberg sentenced to prison

Greg Lindberg, who just a few years ago was the biggest political donor in North Carolina before his Durham-based insurance empire fell apart in the aftermath of bribery and money laundering investigations, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison.

Lindberg’s sentence is tied to money laundering charges, to which he previously pleaded guilty. Federal prosecutors said he played a role in a multibillion-dollar fraud conspiracy that bankrupted multiple insurance companies with thousands of unpaid policyholder victims.

Lindberg had asked for leniency from the judge, suggesting that based on previous cases — as well as his efforts to repay victims of his criminal scheme — he should receive approximately four years in prison. Lindberg has already spent about four years behind bars, so that could’ve meant he would’ve been released due to time-served credit, if the judge had been swayed by Lindberg’s arguments.

Rather, the judge ruled more in line with the prosecution, who had suggested Lindberg should spend more than 14 years in prison.

In their final filing in the case, federal prosecutors in Charlotte said that Lindberg’s crimes were in service of his personal goals: Grow his net worth into the tens of billions of dollars, fund a coterie of beautiful girlfriends and luxury vehicles, build a media empire and fund research that he hoped could help him live to at least 120 years old.

“Lindberg dreamed of being one of the richest (and oldest) people on the planet,” prosecutors wrote. “Indeed, he aimed to start his own ‘Valhalla on earth.’ In pursuing those dreams, he orchestrated one of the biggest insurance frauds in history. “Fueled by greed, Lindberg siphoned more than $2 billion … [to] fund his extravagant lifestyle, which included the purchase of private jets, mansions, and a 200-foot luxury yacht.”

Lindberg is seeking a pardon from Republican President Donald Trump, who has recently pardoned other white-collar criminals, including one of the people involved in Lindberg’s separate bribery case — former North Carolina Republican Party chairman Robin Hayes, who also served in Congress.

But Trump can’t pardon state-level convictions, and Wiley Nickel — the Democrat likely to become Wake County’s next district attorney since he faces no challenger on the ballot in November — said he will look into bringing state-level charges against Lindberg if he takes office next year.

“No federal action can limit North Carolina’s independent authority to enforce state law,” Nickel wrote on social media. “The rule of law still matters here.”

Lindberg duped not only government regulators but also his own insurance companies’ policyholders, prosecutors said, including many who lost substantial amounts of money. Some may be paid back, at least partially, but many others died before the case was resolved.

Prosecutors allege that Lindberg’s victims have suffered not just from losing large amounts of money, but the ramifications of that loss: “sleepless nights, new depression diagnoses, anger and distrust of financial institutions, returning to the workforce to make ends meet, inability to pay medical bills, feeling like a burden in their golden years after all they have contributed in life.”

Lindberg, in seeking a lighter sentence, noted that he has already contributed hundreds of millions of dollars toward providing restitution to his victims and that he expects to soon repay the full $3.69 billion in restitution owed.

“These efforts … have resulted in the total restitution paid in this case being among the largest amounts of restitution ever recovered in the United States,” Lindberg wrote.

Lindberg also submitted letters from supporters in favor of a more lenient sentence. None of the politicians who benefitted from the millions of dollars he spent on political races wrote in his support. But his former body guard did, as did two fellow prison inmates who are now back in society.

One of them, an ex-drug dealer named Willie Colon, said Lindberg helped him and other prisoners learn the financial and life skills needed to turn their lives around after they were released, through classes he taught in prison on entrepreneurship and other topics.

“He encouraged me to believe that I could earn an honest living and build a lawful future for myself,” Colon wrote. “His mentorship helped give me confidence and direction during a very difficult period in my life. Since my release from federal prison in 2021, I have remained gainfully employed in both the logistics industry and the corporate audio visual technology industry.”