A Marietta man has been sentenced to 12 1/2 years in prison for bilking several people out of their life savings.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Grimberg tells WSB 61-year-old Mitchell Gross ran two scams over the course of a decade.  In the first scam, he defrauded two women, one of whom he met over the Internet and another he met through mutual friends.

"He targeted them because they had just come off previous relationships, were financially well off, and convinced them to invest their money, basically their life savings with a broker that he named Michael Johnson that was actually just him," said Grimberg.

In the second scheme, Gross defrauded a couple he befriended out of more than $2 million by claiming to represent them in a fake lawsuit against their former employer.

"They invested virtually all of their money with this fake Michael Johnson person and he used that money to live a lavish lifestyle," said Grimberg.

All three testified at his sentencing.

"All of them indicated that they are completely destitute now and will have to work the rest of their lives to survive," said Grimberg.