PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Patrick Churchville left a trail of lost homes, drained savings accounts and victims bereft of the ability to trust.

On Thursday, a federal judge sentenced the once high-flying Barrington financial adviser to serve seven years in prison for orchestrating a $21-million Ponzi scheme that left at least one of his former investors broke and in need of food stamps and heating assistance.

"This entire matter is an absolute tragedy for everyone involved," U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith said. He continued, "You have to know you were living the life on the backs of those people. You knew you were taking their life's savings and you knew you were draining it down the drain."

Churchville's family members gasped and wept as Smith handed down a sentence that included 2,000 hours of community service and paying restitution to his 114 victims in an amount that remains undetermined. He will remain under supervision for three years after his release.

Churchville, 47, owner of ClearPath Wealth Management, pleaded guilty in August to five counts of wire fraud and one of tax fraud for failing to pay more than $820,000 in taxes.

In pleading, Churchville admitted to orchestrating a years-long scheme in which he made up false account documents to mislead investors. When people questioned the investment methods Churchville employed at ClearPath, he diverted money into their accounts to hide shortfalls.

He skimmed a portion of the investors' money, $2.5 million, to purchase a waterfront home at 122 Nayatt Rd. in Barrington.

Five investors told Judge Smith Thursday about lives in shambles, with empty bank accounts, strained family relationships, and being forced back into the work force during what should have been their retirement.

"I lost half the money I ever made in my entire life," Robert Skollar, of New York City, said. Skollar met Churchville during the years when Churchville worked for Morgan Stanley, and once considered him a friend, inviting him to his son's wedding.

Skollar estimated his losses at $5 million. "This is money for my kids, money for my grandchildren."

"This is about something bigger than the numbers," Paul Posnick, also of New York, told the court. "This is about lives that have been ruined."

"I, for one, saved for 55 years. That money's gone," Posnick said. "I don't own anything anymore," he said in the courthouse hallway after the hearing. He put his losses at $2 million.

Several of the victims glared at the towering Churchville as they passed. He did not meet their gaze.

"How does someone recover from being lied to for such a long time?" Assistant U.S. Attorney Dulce Donovan asked.

Churchville also addressed the court, tearfully expressing regret as he read from a typed statement. His victims wore stricken looks of stress and loss as they listened.

"I'm actually a decent person who took a wrong turn," he said.

"Despite my good intentions ... I went about it in an awful way. I lied."

Churchville said that his actions belied his core and that his downfall revealed to him that he had a serious problem. "I'm truly sorry for everything that has happened," said Churchville, who was flanked by his lawyers, Michael Lepizzera and Anthony Traini.

An investigation by the IRS, in conjunction with federal prosecutors and the FBI, revealed that from spring 2008 through October 2011, Churchville invested, on behalf of ClearPath investors, about $18 million with JER Receivables LLC, a health-care business formed in New Jersey, promising a 30-percent rate of return over 16 months, court records show.

Churchville failed to notify investors that he had lost millions of dollars in the fund after he became aware that it was failing and that he had been misled by JER staff. In total, he misappropriated $21 million, which he used to repay the JER investors, telling them that the money was a return on their investment.

Churchville, who operated out of an office on Westminster Street and later on Maple Street in Barrington, is also the subject of a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission complaint that accuses him of costing investors $11 million from 2010 through 2012.

Authorities are in the process of liquidating his assets.