A Calgary man has been sentenced to three years in prison for what a judge called a "complex, sophisticated and deliberate" pyramid scheme.

James Norbert Hester, 68, had pleaded guilty to cheating 35 Calgary investors out of $615,765 for a program he said would help schools raise money for education programs.

Justice Peter McIntyre handed Hester a three-year prison term on Monday, rejecting a defence request for two years to be served under house arrest on medical grounds.

Hester was hurt in a car crash in 2004 and now uses two canes to get around because of a bad back and chronic pain. McIntyre said those problems could be adequately handled in prison.

Hester asked for a 30-day delay to put his affairs in order, but McIntyre also denied that request. The judge said he didn't have the authority to put off the prison term, but even if he did, it would have been rejected anyway on the basis of the nature of the crime and Hester's character.

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Hester had been convicted of a similar crime in Texas in 1990 and violated the conditions of his release in Calgary twice.

When he pleaded guilty to one count of fraud over $5,000 last year, Hester admitted to taking payments of between $500 and $100,000 from investors and promising them high returns in a short period of time.

Instead, more than $165,000 went into Hester's pocket, the court heard. There was no evidence on where that money was spent.

The court heard that all of the investors' money is gone, but McIntyre did not order restitution of the funds.

Hester's wife, former Calgary Board of Education trustee Sharon Hester, was originally also charged in the scheme, but those charges were withdrawn when he pleaded guilty.