Lou Pearlman, the man known for creating some of the biggest boy bands like the Backstreet Boys,‘N Sync and O-Town, died Friday in a federal Miami prison, where he was serving 25 years for fraud.
Pearlman, 62, was convicted in 2008 for his role in a $300-million Ponzi scheme relating to two of his companies — Transcontinental Airlines Travel Services Inc. and Transcontinental Airlines Inc. — that only existed on paper.
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His cause of death is unknown, according to NPR.
Pearlman had been serving his time in a low-security prison in Texarkana, Texas, but was recently moved to Miami, Billboard reports.
His death has sparked mixed emotions, especially from those he used to manage.
Pearlman was inundated with hundreds of lawsuits from former investors and bands he used to manage, including one from the Backstreet Boys.
U.S. District Judge G. Kendall Sharp gave Pearlman the chance to cut his prison time by offering a one-month reprieve for every $1 million in cash he repaid to his victims. Theoretically, Pearlman could have cancelled his entire 300-month sentence by repaying the $300 million debt, but he never paid a cent.
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Pearlman, who used to be known as “Big Poppa,” was also famously accused of sexual misconduct with boy-band members in 2007, which was detailed in a Vanity Fair article.
The manager denied the allegations and was never arrested or brought up on charges.
Pearlman is also known for managing other acts, including LFO, Take 5, Aaron Carter, Jordan Knight, Natural and US5.
With files from Reuters
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