A man was sentenced to seven years in prison for stealing nearly a quarter of a million dollars in a real estate investment scam.

Arturo Segura, 41, pleaded guilty July 29 to one count each of theft and securities fraud, according to a statement from the Illinois attorney general’s office and Cook County court records.

Segura took about $246,000 from three victims while pretending to be a real estate investor between May 2013 and February 2017, the attorney general’s office said. He told the victims he’d invest their money in a particular property, but instead spent it on personal expenses.

“The defendant is a con man who took advantage of unknowing investors for personal profit,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said in the statement. “I am committed to continuing to hold him and other individuals accountable who believe they can defraud investors for personal gain.”

Judge William Raines accepted Segura’s plea and sentenced him to seven years in the Illinois Department of Corrections for the theft charge and five years for securities fraud, to be served concurrently, the attorney general’s office said.

In addition to the prison time, Segura will be required to pay restitution for the money stolen in the scam, prosecutors said.

Segura, who lives in Chicago, is being held at Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, according to IDOC inmate records.

He was charged for a similar scam in 2011, the attorney general’s office said. He pleaded guilty in that case and was sentenced to six months of conditional discharge in addition to paying $56,000 in restitution to three victims.

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