A former Twin Cities investment adviser has been sentenced to 72 months in prison for stealing from clients.

Bradley T. Smegal, 63, who moved to the Seattle area several years ago and declared bankruptcy, was sentenced last week by U.S. District Judge David Doty in Minneapolis, and ordered to pay restitution of $5 million.

"The sentence … sends a clear message that those who abuse their positions of trust for personal gain will be brought to justice and held accountable for their crimes," Richard Thornton, special agent in charge of the FBI's Minneapolis office, said in a statement.

According to the guilty plea and court documents, Smegal, going back to 2007, persuaded 14 clients to invest in entities in which Smegal had an undisclosed ownership or management role, or otherwise controlled related bank accounts.

Smegal told investors that the businesses were involved in international infrastructure and mining, among other things.

Smegal often described the investments as conservative and guaranteed specific rates of return.

He fraudulently convinced his clients to invest about $5 million, diverting $825,900 of the money to his personal bank account, according to court documents.

Smegal often routed the money through several bank accounts before depositing it into his personal account to disguise his actions. In order to keep the scheme going, Smegal sometimes made payments to one investor with funds from another.

Smegal, who once worked for Piper Jaffray, was fired by Wells Fargo in 2011 and barred from the securities business by FINRA, the industry regulator. The government alleged he started misleading two clients in 2003, while at Piper, when he persuaded them to invest in a hospital in Sri Lanka.

Neal St. Anthony • 612-673-7144