A Sioux Falls man infamous for dating a Russian foreign agent has been sentenced to seven years in prison for other crimes.
Paul Erickson was sentenced Monday at federal court in Sioux Falls. He previously pleaded guilty to wire fraud and money laundering.
Erickson admitted duping an investor into giving him money for a land development deal in the oilfields of North Dakota. But Erickson did not put the money into the development deal.
The national media put a spotlight on Erickson last year. He was dating Maria Butina. She pleaded guilty, was sent to prison and then deported for serving as an unregistered foreign agent for Russia in the United States.
In Erickson’s criminal case, he admitted taking $100,000 from a victim and transferring $1,000 to someone identified only by the initials “M.B.”