San Diego

A federal judge has refused to reduce the 10-year prison sentence for Phillip L. Jauregui, founder of the now-defunct Coastal Equities Inc..

U.S. District Judge Earl Gilliam was asked Tuesday to reduce his earlier sentence for Jauregui on three counts of mail fraud. Coastal Equities bilked about 2,100 investors out of $33 million.

Jauregui, whose Oceanside-based company collapsed in April, 1982, has served six months of his sentence at the federal prison in Lompoc.

At the same time he denied Jauregui’s request, Gilliam did agree to reduce the 30-month prison sentence of sales manager Stephen A. Beard, 35, of Del Mar, on one count of mail fraud to one year and a day. Beard, who was president of the company from 1977 to 1979 before he started supervising other company salesmen, has served four months of his sentence at Lompoc.

Gilliam still has under submission a request to modify the 18-month sentence of another company sales manager, Charles L. Sterling, 34, of Newport Beach, who plead guilty to one count of mail fraud.