Manager gets 6 years for defrauding Canadian pop star

By Barry Ellsworth

TRENTON, Ont.

The manager who embezzled USD$5 million from Canadian pop superstar Alanis Morissette was sentenced to six years in federal prison Wednesday.

But Jonathan Todd Schwartz stole more than money from the singer, who has sold approximately 60 million albums worldwide, 15 million alone of Jagged Little Pill.

Morissette told a Los Angeles judge Wednesday that Schwartz “stole a dream”,the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) reported.

Schwartz, 47, also stole $2 million from five unnamed clients while he was working for GSO Business Management, a firm that represents entertainment stars such as Katy Perry, 50 Cent and Tom Petty.

The embezzlement was discovered after a suspicious Morissette hired a new money manager.

Schwartz admitted to the crime and said he took the money, between 2010 and 2014, to feed a gambling habit.

Prosecutors asked for a five-year-three-month sentence, but Judge Molly Gee sentenced Schwartz to six years, the U.S. entertainment publication Variety reported.

“In the past I’ve criticized the sentencing guidelines as draconian, but this is a rare instance in which I feel they’re not harsh enough,” Gee said. She also ordered Schwartz to pay $8.6 million in restitution, the CBC reported.