Lou Pearlman, the man responsible for creating both Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync and prolonging the boy band fad well past its sell-by date with O-Town, was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison today for a decades-long scam that cost thousands of investors their life savings. Pearlman pled guilty in March to counts of conspiracy and money laundering for bilking some $100 million from various banks and another $200 million from individual investors—-including his own friends and relatives, many of whom are now penniless retirees in their 70s and 80s. The judge noted that he would reduce Pearlman's sentence by one month for every $1 million that he returned, but given the lackluster profits he received from the world's saddest estate sale, that seems pretty unlikely. Although maybe he can find other ways of earning money: Somewhere behind bars is the world's last Howie Dorough fan, and we bet he'd pay top dollar for a conjugal visit.
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