Enforcement Actions Criminal Civil

Leland Alan Dykes of Houston pleaded guilty Sept. 9 to one charge of misapplication of fiduciary property and is scheduled to be sentenced in Harris County state District Court on Nov. 11. Two companies Dykes founded sold approximately $1 million in fraudulent Secured Debt Obligations (SDOs)...

A U.S. District Court jury in Dallas on Sept. 4 convicted David Kevin Lewis , also known as “David Shane Lewis” and “DW,” on one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and 23 counts of securities fraud. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 20. Lewis, who in 2000 was convicted of federal security...

Alberto Alba Villarreal and Daniel Thomas Hernandez , both of Brownsville, were indicted Aug. 28 in Cameron County on charges of theft of property and selling securities without being registered. The cases are in the 445th State District Court. The indictments allege that Villarreal and Hernandez...

Kenneth Paul Lawrence of Allen was convicted July 19 on charges of money laundering and engaging in organized criminal activity related to his role in raising money for a purported biodiesel plant in Hunt County. Lawrence was sentenced the week of July 22 to five years on the money laundering charge...

Michael D. Alexander was convicted of securities fraud and theft in Rockwall County state District Court on June 6 and ordered to pay restitution of $175,000 to three investors in a non-existent timber-harvesting project Alexander claimed to operate along the Amazon River. Alexander, who was...

Robbie Dale Walker of Dripping Springs was sentenced to 25 years in state prison on April 9 for stealing money from two elderly women in Hays County. Walker told the women they could earn annual returns of at least 15% from oil and gas projects in North Dakota. The projects did not exist, and Walker...

John W. Wagner of Columbus was sentenced to two years federal probation on April 4 and ordered to pay a $10,000 fine for his role as the former certified public accountant and bookkeeper for Momentum Production Corp. Wagner pleaded guilty in 2011 to one count of misprision of a felony for not...

Daniel Christopher Walsh of Houston was indicted April 3 in Wichita County on charges of theft, money laundering, and securing execution of a document by deception for allegedly stealing from investors who thought their funds would be used to pay for oil well drilling projects in Galveston County.

Richard M. Plato , the founder of Momentum Production Corp., an oil-and-gas exploration company in Baytown, was sentenced to 235 months in federal prison on March 28 and ordered to pay $3 million in restitution to investors in Momentum. Plato was convicted Sept. 24, 2012, on five counts of mail...

Robert Roland Langguth was sentenced to four years in federal prison on March 21 for operating a real estate fraud in Central Texas. Langguth had pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering in perpetrating a fraud that cost investors at least $7 million. Langguth...