Theft by deception involving inducing victims to invest in a non-existent business is no less serious than offending involving breach of fiduciary trust, and the absence of a formal fiduciary relationship does not reduce the seriousness of the conduct. Deterrence is the predominant sentencing consideration for premeditated, deliberate and repetitive theft by deception. A starting point of ten years for five counts of theft totalling $564,000 was within the permissible range.
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