Enforcement Actions Criminal Civil

The indictment of Steven Patrick Jones and John Patrick Acord , executives at Intermodal Wealth Inc., was unsealed Feb. 27 in U.S. District Court in Houston. Jones and Acord (who also used the name "John Delano") were charged with multiple counts of wire and mail fraud and one count of securities...

Russell Erxleben of Dripping Springs was sentenced to seven and one-half years in prison on Feb. 24 in U.S. District Court in Austin. Erxleben pleaded guilty Dec. 18, 2013, to wire fraud and money laundering charges. According to a federal indictment, he raised more than $2 million from investors...

Leland Alan Dykes of Houston was sentenced to 15 years in state prison Feb. 24 for the fraudulent sale of nearly $1 million in "secured debt obligations."Dykes, a former registered securities agent, pleaded guilty last year in Harris County State District Court to one count of misapplication of...

William Paul Hudson of Plano was convicted of theft and sentenced to 10 years in state prison on Jan. 31 in Collin County State District Court. Hudson also received a sentence of 10 years, probated, on charges of securities fraud and money laundering and was ordered to pay restitution. Hudson stole...

Eddie Lacy Stivers III was sentenced to 85 years in state prison on Jan. 31 for engaging in the fraudulent sale of stock and promissory notes, with some sales to investors coming after Stivers was indicted by a Hood County grand jury on charges of first-degree securities fraud, first-degree theft...

David Kevin Lewis , the chairman of Richardson-based oil and gas company Always Consulting Inc. (ACI), was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on Jan. 24 and ordered to pay $2.5 million in restitution. A U.S. District Court jury in Dallas in September 2013 convicted Lewis on one count of...

Bruce Kyle Griffith , the former CEO of Always Consulting Inc. (ACI) in Richardson, was sentenced to eight years and three months in federal on Dec. 18 in U.S. District Court in Dallas. Griffith was also ordered to pay restitution of $2.5 million to investors in purported oil and gas drilling...

In filings unsealed Dec. 5 in U.S. District Court in Austin, the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that Robert A. Helms and Janniece S. Kaelin , Austin-based promoters of an oil and gas entity called Vendetta Royalty Partners. The SEC’s civil lawsuit , which names other salespeople for...

Richard Hicks of Tyler pleaded guilty pleaded guilty to securities fraud Nov. 7 in Smith County State District Court and was placed on 10 years adjudication. He was also ordered to pay $243,687 in restitution to 10 victims. Smith had been indicted on a charge of securities fraud. Hicks, who operated...

A Cameron County grand jury on Nov. 7 issued new indictments against Alberto Alba Villarreal and Daniel Thomas Hernandez. The men are Brownsville residents who allegedly sold a fraudulent $1 million investment contract in Nafta Holdings LLC. The money was supposed to help fund a new insurance...