Eddy Ray Blizzard Sentenced to Prison

In a recent article from Financial Advisor IQ, they stated that a former financial advisor, Eddy Ray Blizzard, from Maryland has been sentenced to prison for three and a half years for misappropriating the life savings of an elderly client.  Blizzard, who is from Havre de Grace, Maryland, had plead guilty in December to bank fraud in connection to embezzling approximately $1 million from the retirement account of one of his clients.

According to the US Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland, the client retired in 2003. After retiring, the client sought investment advice from a bank at which he maintained deposit accounts, and Blizzard became the client's financial advisor, the US Attorney's Office said. According to the plea, Eddy Ray Blizzard began asking the client for signed blank checks, which the client provided. In 2019, the client was unable to withdraw cash from the bank because of insufficient funds, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, and the records show 242 distributions from the client's retirement accounts between January 2013 and August 2019, totaling about $1.4 million. From April 2016 to April 2019, Blizzard deposited approximately 112 checks, totaling over $800,000 which came from the client's account, into various bank accounts held by Blizzard with his wife or individually, according to the US Attorney's Office. The US Attorney’s Office also states that Eddy Ray Blizzard took his client’s Social Security checks on at least three occasions.

In the fall of 2019, the elderly client's home went into foreclosure as a result of Eddy Ray Blizzard not making the mortgage payments as he said he would do, according to the US Attorney's Office. Blizzard had told the client all his money was gone and Blizzard had attempted suicide which he admitted in his plea that was not true. On March 20, 2020, the client died.

According to FINRA’s BrokerCheck, available to the public on FINRA’s website, Eddy Ray Blizzard, was registered both as a broker and financial advisor.  Blizzard was in the industry for 15 years and was listed with 4 firms.  Blizzard began his securities industry career in 2001, with UBS, of Weehawken, New Jersey. In 2003, he joined M&T Securities in Catonsville, Maryland, and in 2014, Blizzard left M&T for Suntrust Investment Services in Baltimore, until 2017.  According to BrokerCheck, Eddy Ray Blizzard was discharged from Suntrust over allegations that he "Violated the firms policy and procedures related to trade execution and error reporting.” Blizzard was suspended by FINRA indefinitely with a start date of 6/29/2018.  In April the US District Judgeof the District of Maryland sentenced Blizzard to 42 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release.

If you or an elderly loved one have experienced financial losses due to the actions or recommendations of Eddy Ray Blizzard of Maryland, contact Soreide Law Group and speak to an experienced securities lawyer at no cost regarding the possible recovery of your investment losses through a FINRA arbitration at:  888-760-6552.

Soreide Law Group represents our clients nationwide on a contingency fee basis, no fee to you if no recovery.