A former Merrill Lynch financial adviser convicted of wire fraud for stealing more than $3 million from clients — including one of the wrongfully convicted “Dixmoor Five” — was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison Thursday.

       Marcus Boggs bilked clients for about 10 years, Judge Mary Rowland noted in handing down the punishment.

       “That’s a long time for you, but I think what you did is egregious,” Rowland said.

       Marcus Boggs at the Paris Opera Ballet's opening night gala at the Harris Theater in 2012. (Joel Wintermantle/for the Chicago Tribune)

       Boggs, who had pleaded guilty in the case, took responsibility again Thursday and apologized to everyone affected. He also lamented the erosion of trust he might have caused between financial advisers, particularly Black ones, and their clients. He promised that this would be his last run-in with the law.

       “I’m sorry I let you down,” he told the court. “Not a day goes by when I don’t wish I could take this back.”

       One of the eight victims in the case was Shainnie Sharp, who is one of the so-called Dixmoor Five, a group wrongfully convicted of the 1991 rape and murder of Cateresa Matthews.

       “Mr. Sharp has suffered enough,” the judge said. “That feels like a slap in the face to him.”

       Sharp hired Boggs to manage his $5 million dollar wrongful conviction settlement, according to prosecutors. Boggs stole $800,000 of the settlement money, which he used for personal expenses.

       “I really don’t trust a lot of people, Marcus knew that,” Sharp testified Thursday at the hearing. “He made it seem like he really cared ... so I let my guard down and let him in.”

       Boggs and Sharp became friends, Sharp said. They hung out socially and Boggs knew Sharp’s family.

       “All the time he was taking advantage of me because I didn’t know the system like he did,” Sharp said.

       Boggs notified Sharp that his funds had been depleted and his Merrill Lynch account would be closed in 2018, according to prosecutors. Sharp knew that he had spent a lot of money from the settlement, but did not believe he spent all of it. Still, he didn’t question Boggs because he trusted him.

       “He destroyed my life,” said Sharp, adding he also developed a gambling problem to try to make some of the money back. “I gave him every dime I had.”

       Sharp took on two jobs and sold his house to stay afloat financially, Assistant U.S. Attorney John Mitchell said in court.

       Boggs said he intends to pay back Merrill Lynch, who repaid the money he stole, and educate others on financial literacy and how not to take the path he did once he gets out of prison, he said.

       Boggs, who is Black, took pride in his ability to help “underrepresented markets,” he said. He started stealing from his clients because as both his civic and business responsibilities grew, he found himself strapped for cash. He likened his inability to stop taking money to an alcoholic who always says their next drink will be their last.

       Rowland didn’t doubt that some of the stolen funds went toward “business development,” but most of the money was for personal use, she said.

       “It was just extravagance, it was just greed ... (there’s) no excuse for that,” she said.

       Boggs will surrender to authorities in October and is expected to start his sentence at the federal prison in Oxford, Wisconsin.

       “I know you’re a good person and you made a huge mistake,” Rowland said. “I’m sorry that we crossed paths in this manner. ... I wish you well. ... I know you wish your victims well.”

       zharris@chicagotribune.com

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