Founder of $380M Ponzi scheme sentenced to max federal sentence

(ATLANTA) –  The founder and two other executives of an investment Ponzi scheme that affected several Southeast Indiana residents are going to prison. 

Drive Planning LLC Founder and CEO Todd Burkhalter, of Florida, has been sentenced to the maximum 20-year federal prison sentence. He has also been ordered to pay $233 million in restitution to victims.  

David Bradford, of Georgia, served as Drive Planning’s Chief Operating Officer and has been sentenced to four years in federal prison and ordered to pay $4.2 million in restitution to victims. 

Julie Edwards served as the Chief Administrative Officer and was sentenced to two years in prison and ordered to pay $630,000.  

All of the sentences will be served without the possibility of parole. Parole has been abolished in the federal system.

What Happened?

Federal authorities say Drive Planning falsely promised investors a 10 percent rate of return, that investors held an underlying collateral as part of their investment, and that profit-sharing agreements with real estate developers would guarantee returns to real investors. 

The company would tell prospective investors that they did not have to be accredited investors to participate and encouraged them to invest money from retirement accounts, savings, and lines of credit. 

“He promised investors that they were guaranteed substantial returns on their investments, and he ruthlessly encouraged them to deplete their kids’ college funds, take early distributions from retirement accounts, and borrow significant sums at high interest rates," said U.S. U.S. Attorney Theodore S. Hertzberg.

Over the course of the scheme, Drive Planning defrauded more than 2,000 investors out of approximately $380 million.  

Drive Planning had agents in Southeast Indiana which is what led to local investors getting scammed. 

RELATED: The 812 spoke with two people who fell victim to the scheme in 2024. Read that story here.

The funds they received were used to pay off other Drive Planning investors, make commission payments to their agents, and also fund a lavish lifestyle for Burkhalter, officials said. 

Burkhalter spent approximately: 

• $2 million to purchase a yacht;

  
  

• $2.1 million as part of a purchase of a luxury condo in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico;

  
  

• $800,000 on multiple luxury vehicles, including a 2020 Prevost Marathon motorcoach and two 2024 Land Rovers;

  
  

• Millions of dollars on luxury travel, including chartering private jets; and

  
  

• $320,000 on clothing, jewelry, and beauty treatments

"The sentences in this case should discourage other financial advisors from choosing insatiable greed and lies over honest investment strategies," said Hertzberg.