Already sentenced to an eight-year federal prison term, a former Salem County, N.J., investment broker received additional time in state prison.

Jeffrey J. Southard, 45, of Pittsgrove, N.J., received a sentence of 15 years in a New Jersey Superior Court for defrauding South Jersey investors out of $1.8 million through a Ponzi scheme, according to the state’s attorney general. Southard pleaded guilty in June to state charges of first-degree money laundering and second-degree securities fraud.

His state-imposed prison sentence will run concurrently with the federal prison sentence, according to New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram.

In November, Southard was sentenced to federal prison as well as three years of supervised release and restitution of $1.8 million to his former clients, many of whom are in their eighties and nineties, authorities said.

Between Jan. 1, 2002, and May 31, 2008, Southard, a former Ameriprise and GunnAllen broker-dealer, offered at least 16 clients fictitious “Ohio bonds” through his company, JD BAC Financial.  Claiming the bonds offered a tax-free, guaranteed annual rate of return between 6% and 11%, Southard laundered his investors’ funds rather than investing them.

Southard used the funds for several personal expenses, including $236,678 in private school tuitions for his five children, $270,142 toward his mortgage and $87,002 in ATM withdrawals, according to officials. He used $480,000 to pay investors monthly interest payments while also giving them the option to reinvest that interest.

As part of the scheme, Southard generated phony monthly statements and visited investors on a regular basis.

Southard’s victims lived in several counties in South Jersey, including Burlington, Camden, Gloucester and Salem.

In November 2008, the New Jersey Bureau of Securities revoked Southard’s registration and ordered him to pay restitution. It also assessed civil monetary penalties against him.

“This investment broker stole the savings of elderly clients, depriving them of their financial security and ability to give to their children and grandchildren,” said Milgram said in a statement. “We have ensured that he will serve a lengthy prison term through this global resolution involving our federal law enforcement partners, which also requires him to pay full restitution.”