Nate Kotisso, Digital Journalist
Published:
Nate Kotisso, Digital Journalist
SAN ANTONIO – Two Lubbock men were convicted Tuesday in a federal courtroom for their involvement in a Ponzi scheme with a now-former San Antonio financial advisor.
According to a Department of Justice news release, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons announced guilty verdicts for Joshua Allen and Michael Cox. Allen and Cox were convicted on the following charges:
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“In the midst of this Ponzi scheme, Allen and Cox collected a handsome fee by telling various egregious lies, even using their self-proclaimed faith and reputation in their community to con the investors they victimized,” Simmons said in the DOJ news release. “This case shows that within the Western District of Texas and across the Department of Justice, we are resolved to prosecute cases like these where individuals have preyed on the innocence and trusting nature of everyday Americans as Michael Cox and Joshua Allen did here.”
Allen and Cox jointly owned and operated four investment companies, evidence presented during their joint trial showed.
Former San Antonio financial advisor Brooklynn Chandler Willy, who pleaded guilty on 10 charges in connection with the scheme in March, worked with Allen and Cox — and others — to solicit victims to invest in their companies.
The trio, the DOJ said, “conspired to mislead the victims concerning the security of the investments and concealed their high commissions.” Altogether, officials said hundreds of victims lost millions of dollars.
Allen and Cox now each face up to 70 years in prison. Their sentencing hearings have yet to be scheduled.
Meanwhile, Willy pleaded guilty in March on the following charges:
Investigators said Willy faces up to 20 years each in federal prison on the wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy charges. Additionally, she could face additional time in prison for the engagement with monetary transactions (up to 10 years in prison) and aggravated identity theft (mandatory minimum of two years) charges.
The aggravated identity theft charge, according to the DOJ, would run concurrently with any other punishment.
Willy is set to receive her prison sentence on Dec. 14.
More coverage of this story on KSAT:
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Nate Kotisso joined KSAT as a digital journalist in 2024. He previously worked as a newspaper reporter in the Rio Grande Valley for more than two years and spent nearly three years as a digital producer at the CBS station in Oklahoma City.
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