Louis Jay Lou Pearlman (born June 19, 1954) is a former impresario of the successful 1990s boy bands the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC. In 2006 it was discovered that Pearlman had perpetrated one of the largest and longest-running Ponzi schemes in American history, leaving more than $300 million in debts. After getting caught on the run, and pleading guilty to conspiracy, money laundering and making false statements during a bankruptcy proceeding, in 2008 Pearlman was convicted and sentenced to (up to) 25 years.