George Kline noticeably faltered Monday as he wrapped up the sad saga of how he went from being one of Minnesota's most successful investors to an inmate in a Duluth federal prison.

"When I get out, I will proceed to see what is left of my life," he told a rapt audience. "But I know this: I will always be a felon."

Kline and former Minneapolis councilman Brian Herron were the featured speakers at an unusual event — a program, lasting nearly four hours, to gather up the lessons learned from the experiences of five men convicted of white-collar crimes.

Herron was convicted last year of extortion. He spent about a year in prison. Today, he is working for Project Reentry, a group that helps former prisoners establish new lives.

Kline, who is 67, won't get out until January of 2006 — even after, hours before he spoke, his current sentence was cut to 4½ years from 6½ years.

Two years ago this week, he was convicted of illegal insider trading, money laundering and five other federal felony charges. He went to prison a year ago.

The audience included more than 250 attorneys, academic officials, business executives and community leaders gathered at the First Baptist Church in downtown Minneapolis.

The church setting was dripping with irony.

The speakers talked from a podium and table set up on the altar, near an open Bible.

High above them hung two deep blue banners inscribed with the words "The Son of Man comes to seek … and to save what was lost."

The message: He who falls from grace can return to grace.

The meeting's sponsors, the business and law schools of the University of St. Thomas and the Center for Ethical Business Cultures, had to move the meeting from a business school auditorium to the church to accommodate the overflow crowd.

Chris Puto, dean of the business school, said the purposes of the meeting were to learn "what makes good people do bad things" and to seek ways to prevent and deter white-collar crime.

Another message, which came through loud and clear: Crime doesn't pay, at least it didn't for any of the five speakers. Generally, they stressed that their transgressions have cost them their reputations, caused them great financial losses and hurt their families and friends badly.

FBI agents ushered Kline into and out of the church.

He began by noting that he was wearing a prison uniform, emblazoned prominently with his name and federal identification number.

"It reminds me of the fact that this is who I am," he said.

"I can tell you that one year feels like five. Two years feels like 10.

"I managed to go from the very top to the very bottom."

The top, he noted, was being a star basketball player and then becoming one of the state's best-known investors.

Over his long career, Kline recalled, he sat on the boards of 55 publicly held companies and many private boards as well. He said he invested in more than 160 Minnesota companies.

"I was never on a board that had a board ethics committee meeting," he disclosed.

Kline said the price he paid for his crimes was $399,000 in fines, $200,000 in restitution money and $4 million in assets he gave up to the federal government.

But he stressed that those losses paled in comparison to the pain he inflicted on his family, friends and business associates.

Herron's description of life after his crime was the darkest of the dark.

"You begin to feel like a bad person," he said. "You begin to feel like dirt. The wound is still raw and the pain is very deep.

"The most powerful part of the process is knowing I let so many people down. That's what still hurts."

Herron said he was disturbed by the use of the term "white-collar crime" because felt it conveys that such crimes are victimless when, in fact, they aren't.

But he emphasized he was blessed by the support he's received. Both his mother and father, he noted are ministers.

"Good people do bad things, but that doesn't make them a bad person."

Having power can be addicting, he said, echoing a theme cited by other speakers.

"It can be really important to understand the law," he added.

A separate panel of speakers featured Donald Snede, Martin Fiterman and Marvin Goldstein.

Snede was a chief financial officer at Minnesota Federal Savings and Loan Association who cooperated with federal authorities in probing that scandal. He was convicted of conspiracy, mail fraud and securities fraud charges and spent two months in prison in the early 1990s.

Fiterman is a former stockbroker who was sentenced to six months in prison last year for a securities law violation.

Goldstein, who is awaiting sentencing, pleaded guilty to securities violations based on tips provided by Kline.

Kline summed it up with a powerful warning. If his experience is any measure, he said, the federal resources brought to bear on wrongdoers "are overwhelming."