A strawberry farmer who admitted he helped persuade hundreds of people to invest in a failing business pleaded for leniency Wednesday before he was sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Dennis Willingham, 46, of Ventura told Superior Court Judge Edward Brodie that he was sorry investors lost millions in a scheme he said was devised by his wife, Brenda. Willingham said his only crime was standing by his wife when it became clear she could not repay investors.

"I failed in my marriage, but I didn't fail and help anyone commit crimes," Willingham said. "I'm just asking, can you have some mercy on me?"

Brodie was not swayed. The judge said he believed Brenda Willingham "did the bulk of the work," but that did not excuse Dennis Willingham's behavior.

"You knew you were pulling in huge amounts of money," Brodie told the defendant. "What did you think was going to happen to people if the business was going nowhere?"

Dennis Willingham pleaded guilty a month ago to about 20 counts of securities fraud and selling unqualified securities.

Investors lost their savings, their retirement funds, their kids' college tuition -- they lost everything in the deal, Brodie said. The facts of the case are "so significant, this court can only conclude that you need to be sent to the Department of Corrections," Brodie told Willingham.

After Brodie handed down the sentence, Willingham pleaded once more for leniency. "You couldn't suspend the sentence at all, judge?" he asked.

When led away by a courtroom bailiff, he tried again. "This is wrong, what you guys are doing to me," he said, shaking his bowed head.

Defense attorney Joe O'Neill declined to comment Wednesday.

Prosecutors put on a seven-day preliminary hearing this summer featuring investors who said they were victimized by the Willinghams between 1998 and 2001 and lost a combined $2 million. The couple was charged with lying to investors about operations at their strawberry farming and broker business in Oxnard in order to solicit working capital, then promising returns they knew they'd never be able to pay.

At the preliminary hearing, the defense noted that in several of the cases, investors dealt only with Brenda Willingham or a middleman and often had never met with Dennis Willingham.

Brenda Willingham, 52, pleaded guilty to 24 felony counts in May. She was sentenced in July to 15 years in prison and ordered to pay at least $3 million in restitution.

Dennis Willingham was ordered Wednesday to pay more than $1 million in restitution.

Prosecutor Eric Dobroth said he was pleased the Willinghams accepted responsibility for their crimes, but he doubted victims would ever be made completely whole.