45

Lewis, who was one of ACI’s “closers” brought in to finalize deals lined up by cold  

callers, was convicted of federal fraud charges in 2000 in a case involving oil and gas  

offerings. In 2003, the SEC ordered him to stop engaging in fraud in the offer or sale  

of securities. Griffith’s record included a federal conviction for bank robbery, another 

for conspiracy to possess counterfeit Federal Reserve notes, and two state felony theft 

convictions. ACI principals spent the money raised for the Rattlesnake Springs program 

on unrelated personal expenses for themselves and others. The company never had any 

of the political pull it claimed.

Lewis and Griffith were convicted and sentenced in U.S. District Court in Dallas. 

Lewis was convicted of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and securities fraud  

and sentenced on Jan. 24, 2014, to 30 years in prison and ordered to pay $2.5 million 

in restitution. Griffith was convicted of securities fraud and sentenced on Dec. 18, 

2013, to eight years and three months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of  

$2.5 million. The ACI cases were prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Dallas,  

assisted by the Texas State Securities Board.

The Mythical Sure-Thing for Investors

Any investment that promises an annualized return of up to 18% while completely 

insured against loss is about as likely as seeing a Chupacabra in your back yard. Yet 

that’s what 

William Charlton Mays iv

, a former investment adviser in Corpus Christi, 

promised with investments he sold in a gold, silver, and commodities trading operation. 

Despite the inherent risk in commodities trading and his lack of expertise in the area, 

Mays promised his clients that the investments, sold in the form of investment contracts 

and promissory notes, would earn them annualized returns of between 6% and 18%. 

The investments were 100% insured against loss, Mays said.
Mays spent virtually all of the $225,000 he raised from investors to do everything  

but trade commodities. He made child support payments. He paid a credit company  

to settle a lawsuit for nonpayment. Investors’ funds paid his restaurant, grocery, and 

housecleaning bills—even his pool maintenance costs.
Mays made occasional payments to investors, but he did it as part of a Ponzi scheme. 

The one investor who received the majority of his money back from Mays was paid with 

funds Mays collected from another investor. In most cases the amounts Mays paid were 

a small fraction of the funds investors sank into his fraudulent operation.
Mays had legal and financial troubles before the commodities trading scam started,  

but he did not disclose them to investors as required by law. In 2011, the IRS filed a  

federal tax lien of $42,924 against him, and that same year he was hit with a $20,289 

final judgment in a civil court case in Travis County.

Mays was convicted on securities fraud and theft charges in Nueces County State  

District Court and sentenced Dec. 18, 2014, to 20 years in prison. He was also ordered 

to pay restitution and fined $20,000. The State Securities Board and the Nueces County 

District Attorney’s Office prosecuted Mays. A Chupacabra, by the way, is a creature of 

contemporary legend said to drain the blood of livestock.