Enforcement Actions Criminal Civil

Ronald Terry Dunn of Haltom City, a former registered securities agent, was sentenced to 25 years in state prison on Feb. 22 in Tarrant County Criminal Court No. 2. Judge Wayne Salvant also ordered Dunn to pay restitution of $683,731. Dunn pleaded guilty to one first-degree felony charge of theft...

Hermilia Flores and David Alan Shand were indicted Feb. 16 in the 178th District Court of Harris County on charges of securities fraud and money laundering for allegedly defrauding investors in oil and natural gas exploration and drilling projects. Flores, a resident of Katy, was the sole manager of...

Louis Joseph Monsour of San Antonio pleaded no contest to a charge of securities fraud as part of a plea agreement in which he was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication and ordered to pay a totasl of $291,237 in restitution to two investors. Monsour was sentenced Feb. 9 in the 176th State...

Robert James Nelson of Prosper pleaded guilty in Collin County State District Court to third-degree felony theft for his role in a fraudulent oil and gas scheme was sentenced to 10 years deferred adjudication and ordered to pay restitution of $306,250. Nelson paid $165,000 in restitution prior to...

Charles McAllister of Austin was indicted Jan. 18 on wire fraud and related charges for allegedly defrauding investors in Bullion Direct Inc., a precious metals company he founded. The indictment seeks a monetary judgment of $16.1 million against McAllister, the sum of the money he stole from...

Charles Anthony Miller was indicted Dec. 7 in Collin County on first-degree felony charges of money laundering and theft for allegedly stealing at least $1.7 million from investors in oil-and-gas exploration and lease-acquisition projects. Miller operated a number of Texas companies including...

James Elton “Jim” Warr of Austin, who promised guaranteed returns from investing in real estate, was sentenced to 15 years in state prison on Dec. 1 after his conviction in Travis County on four first-degree felony counts. Warr, 69, stole $1.1 million from individuals who bought investment contracts...

Lawrence Allen DeShetler , an investment adviser in The Woodlands, was sentenced to five years in federal prison on Nov. 1 after pleading guilty in June to federal mail fraud charges. DeShetler convinced five clients – two of whom were in their 80s – to cash out legitimate investments and transfer...

U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel on Oct. 2 ordered Austin attorney Robert Allen Helms and his business partner, Janniece S. Kaelin, to pay $29 million in restitution to investors in the pair's oil-and-gas royalties scam. Yeakel previously sentenced Helms and Kaelin to 78 months in federal prison. The...