A New Jersey man who organized a Ponzi scheme cheating 37 customers through fake investment offers will spend 20 years in prison and will repay his victims $8 million.

James Hankins Jr., 40, of Island Heights, N.J., received his sentence in a New Jersey Superior Court after the judge heard from seven of his victims, according to the Asbury Park Press.

The judge said Hankins must serve 10 years in prison before consideration for parole.

Last year, state officials filed suit against Hankins and his companies, Hankins Private Client LLC, The Hankins Group and Hankins Life Settlement, alleging violations of the New Jersey Uniform Securities Law.

The violations included defrauding investors and acting as a broker-dealer without registration.

Authorities alleged that Hankins took investor funds, telling them the money would be used to purchase interests in life insurance policies of the terminally ill, but instead, kept more than $6 million for personal expenses, including trips, jewelry and a vacation home. Hankins pay some returns to investors to entice others to invest, according to the report.

All but one of Hankins victims came from Ocean and Monmouth counties; the one exception was an investor in Union County.

According to the report, one of Hankins victims was an Iraq war veteran. Hankins took a $60,000 military settlement the man received after being severely injured in a bomb explosion. The soldier’s father said Hankins was a long-time friend and did not know how Hankins could do such a thing.

In October 2009, Hankins pleaded guilty in a New Jersey Superior Court to two counts of money laundering and one count each of failing to file tax returns an failure to pay taxes on the proceeds of his scheme.