Terry Quatkemeyer, the Cincinnati native who established a criminal career in Los Angeles before playing the heavy in the scamming of George Fiorini's 10 Percent Income Plus Plan customers in the Tristate, began serving a 30-month federal prison term Monday in Texas.

        The U.S. Bureau of Prisons said Monday that Mr. Quatkemeyer, who used the alias Terry Quinn, reported to the federal penitentiary in Fort Worth for an interim stay. There he will continue to receive medical attention for the lymphocytic leukemia and prostate cancer that had kept him from turning himself in by his original reporting date in April.

        Mr. Quatkemeyer, 55, pleaded guilty to making false statements, aiding and abetting and conspiracy in obtaining more than $1 million in bank loans from three Los Angeles banks. His projected release date is October 2004.

        While the government was prosecuting him in California, Mr. Quatkemeyer hooked up with a Cincinnati cousin, Stephen Ventre, in a solid-waste venture called Guardian Investments. Mr. Fiorini raised most of the $13 million received from investors through his late pitchman, Bob Braun.

        The state of Ohio shut down Mr. Fiorini and Guardian in 2000 and 2001, leaving victims on their own to recover their money. In filings with a court-appointed accountant, Mr. Ventre said most of the $13 million was taken by Mr. Quatkemeyer and squandered on unrelated businesses and expenses. No charges have been filed in the Fiorini-Guardian case, although the FBI has investigated it since 1997.

— James McNair

Index down, but it's good news
Price joins Financial Corp. board
Insurer Midland delays common stock offering
Continental recalls tires on Ford SUVs
Now playing: New crowd
Business digest
Tristate Summary
Morning Memo
What's the Buzz?