YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Monroe Beachy, the Sugarcreek investment broker dubbed the "Amish Bernie Madoff," pleaded guilty Thursday to defrauding 2,700 clients of millions of dollars.

U.S. District Judge Benita Pearson scheduled sentencing for May 24. According to federal sentencing guidelines, the 78-year-old father of six faces 12 to 15 years in prison.

Beachy's lawyer, Gerry Ingram, told the judge he intends to ask for less prison time for his client, who has a bad heart and takes medication for diabetes and glaucoma.

A dozen members of the Amish community -- women in bonnets and men with beards -- attended the hourlong hearing but declined to comment after the proceedings.

Asked by the judge if he had been pressured to plead guilty, Beachy said, "I have not been threatened in any way. This is my own free will."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Barr presented an overview of Beachy's crimes, recounting that from 1990 to 2010, he raised an estimated $33 million from 2,700 investors -- many of them from the Amish communities in Holmes and Tuscarawas counties.

He assured investors their money was safe with him and provided them with handwritten monthly statements showing inflated and fictitious balances and interest earned, Barr said.

Rather than investing the money in risk-free securities and government bonds, he actually invested the millions in risky stocks, mutual funds and junk bonds, Barr told the judge. By the time federal agents moved in, less than $18 million remained.

Beachy told the judge he never finished ninth grade and received all of his financial training from H&R Block tax services.

He still faces a bankruptcy case in Akron, where he has claimed several hundred thousand dollars in assets and $70,000 in debts -- plus the millions he still owes his creditors. Those issues are expected to be addressed at sentencing, at which time prosecutors will provide a request for restitution and fines of up to $250,000.

Included among Beachy's investors were widows, retirees, children, a Mennonite church, a school cookbook fund, and the Amish Helping Fund, a nonprofit group that took in money from investors and made real estate loans in an effort to preserve the Amish way of life.

Previous Plain Dealer coverage

Oct. 27, 2011:

Sept. 15, 2011:

Many of his victims were his Amish neighbors, farmers and carpenters from Tuscarawas, Holmes and Wayne counties. Their individual losses averaged $13,000, prosecutors said.

Ingram took issue with his client being likened to Madoff, noting that the convicted New York investment manager had a profit motive and skimmed money for his own use.

"Mr. Beachy did not personally benefit, and the loss was not a result of him secretly stashing away money but was a result of market fluctuations," Ingram said. "He has always lived a very modest lifestyle."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter: jmccarty@plaind.com, 216-999-4128