In July 2009, Paul accepted a plea bargain and was sentenced to ten years in prison, and ordered to pay over $11 million in restitution to Merrill Lynch and Spear, Leeds & Kellogg. He self-surrendered on September 30, 2009, but subsequently tried to have the plea bargain annulled, claiming that the judge coerced him into agreeing to the deal. In March 2011, the courts rejected this attempt, and Paul continued to serve his 10-year imprisonment term as inmate number 78802-012. He was imprisoned at the Federal Correctional Institution, La Tuna in Anthony, Texas, until he was paroled on December 24, 2014.