A co-founder of Chicago-based Canopy Financial pleaded guilty today of defrauding investors and clients of more than $93 million, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.

Jeremy Blackburn, 37, of Bolingbrook, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in U.S. District Court. Blackburn, a former president and chief operating officer of Canopy, admitted participating in a scheme to bilk investors out of $75 million and siphoning funds in excess of $18 million, from 1,600 customer accounts that were intended for medical expenses.

Blackburn is free on a $1 million bond pending sentencing, now scheduled for March 11. Due to a plea agreement, sentencing guidelines range from 15 to 20 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.  Blackburn has also agreed to a forfeiture agreement of $93 million.

In September, Canopy’s chief technology officer, Anthony Banas, also pleaded guilty to wire fraud. He is due to be sentenced March 30.

In Blackburn’s plea agreement, he confessed to a panoply of malfeasance, such as false statements about the firm’s financial condition, using falsified bank statements, making unauthorized withdrawals and transfers, making false representations to prospective investors, and misappropriating funds.

In 2004, Blackburn, Banas and a third person co-founded Canopy, which at one time appeared to be one of the country’s fastest-growing privately held companies. The company developed software for the administration of health care savings and spending accounts.

Federal authorities launched an investigation into Canopy last November, after the firm’s outside directors turned over findings from a probe into financial irregularities. The company filed for bankruptcy shortly thereafter.