By PAUL ELIAS – 12 hours ago

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Silicon Valley financier William "Boots" Del Biaggio III was scrambling during the summer of 2007 to buy a significant portion of the NHL's Nashville Predators.

The 24 percent piece of the team he was after would have achieved a long-term goal, cementing his status as a major player in the NHL. Authorities allege that he wanted the franchise ownership so much that he turned to crime.

Today, he faces more than six years in prison after pleading guilty to one charge of fraud for using forged financial documents to obtain $110 million in loans from several banks and two NHL owners.

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