Investor's son gets 5 years of prison in financial probe

DETROIT (AP) -- The son of a Detroit-area investment manager has been sentenced to five years in prison for conspiracy to commit fraud. Antonio Bravata of Howell will join John Bravata, who got a 20-year prison sentence last Monday. The government says investors lost more than $40 million in BBC Equities and other investments run by John Bravata of Brighton. Defense attorney David Steingold asked for probation last Thursday, claiming the 25-year-old Bravata simply followed the directions of his father and didn't know the Southfield-based company was in trouble. Steingold says Antonio Bravata was a victim of his dad's "over-inflated ego." The government says investors were promised safe stakes in real estate and regular interest payments. Published: Mon, Sep 30, 2013