Charlie Javice exits, following her guilty verdict in a criminal trial on charges of defrauding JPMorgan Chase & Co., at Manhattan federal court in New York City, U.S., March 28, 2025.REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Charlie Javice, an entrepreneur convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase into buying her college financial aid startup Frank for $175 million, was sentenced on Monday to more than seven years in prison.

Javice, 33, was convicted in March on four counts of fraud and conspiracy for creating a fake list of Frank's customers to make it appear that the company had more users than it did.

In handing down the 85-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said it was particularly important in a white-collar criminal case for the sentence to deter others.

"The offense required a great deal of duplicity," the judge said at a hearing in Manhattan federal court. "Honesty in a market is required."

Javice's lawyers had argued for an 18-month sentence, while prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office had sought a 12-year prison sentence.

The sentence marked the culmination of a dramatic fall from grace for Javice, a one-time rising star in finance who appeared on Forbes magazine's "30 Under 30" list in 2019.

In a tearful address before the court, Javice asked for forgiveness from JPMorgan shareholders, her family, and Frank's employees, investors and customers.

"At 28, I did something that runs against the grain of my upbringing," Javice said at the hearing in Manhattan federal court. "Not a day passes that I do not feel profound remorse."

Javice had pleaded not guilty and is expected to appeal her conviction.

Javice founded Frank in 2017 and won praise for simplifying college financial aid for students and parents.

JPMorgan bought Frank in September 2021 but found itself unable to email much of Javice's claimed customer base, and concluded she faked her customer list.

Prosecutors said Javice claimed she had 4.25 million customers, but the real number was closer to 300,000. JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon called buying Frank a "huge mistake."

A JPMorgan spokesperson declined to comment on Javice's sentence.

Javice's co-defendant Olivier Amar, who was Frank's chief growth officer, was convicted on the same counts. His sentencing is scheduled for October 20.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Nia Williams and Edmund Klamann)