The ringleader of a defrauding scheme known as “The Bull” was sentenced to 96 months in prison by the United State Federal Court on Wednesday.

Jeremiah Joseph Evans, 29, of Utah County, was punished for stealing $20,894,674 from roughly 530 investors in his company Alpha Influence LLC, a crime he pleaded guilty to in January.

He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $19,134,150 in restitution, the U.S Attorney’s Office announced.

Evans fraudulently sold investments in e-commerce stores through Alpha Influence and received nearly $21 million from approximately 530 inventors between July 2019 and July 2022, according to court documents and admissions made at the change of plea hearing.

His plan was to fraudulently sell investments in e-commerce stores through his company, promising investors to secure money in exchange for Alpha investments, the attorney’s office said.

To obtain investments, Evans lied to investors about his company’s success and length of operation and sold e-commerce stores to buyers as a passive investment.

“He failed to disclose that testimonials published about Alpha Influence and its success were made by his own relatives or others who received commissions paid from investor proceeds,” a U.S. Attorney’s Office release said. “On one occasion, in July 2021, Evans transferred $50,000 from Alpha Influence LLC’s bank account to make a partial payment for a white Lamborghini Huracan Evo.”

“Crime does not always come in the form of violence and, for a number of years, Evans lied about the success of his company and defrauded millions of dollars from investors,” said acting U.S. Attorney Felice John Viti of the District of Utah. “Protecting the public is a top priority for the Department of Justice and we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute criminals and seek justice for crime victims.”

The case was investigated jointly by the Utah Division of Securities and the FBI Salt Lake City Field Office, according to the release.

Assistant United States attorneys Mark E. Woolf, Jennifer E. Gully and Brian Williams of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah prosecuted the case.