2008
Richard T. Ranspot of Dallas, Texas, was sentenced on April 8, 2008, in the 366th District Court of Collin County, Texas, Cause No. 366-82429-07, after pleading guilty to securities fraud, with the amount involved over $100,000. As a sales agent for Aransas Oil Company, Inc.; Mineral Leases of the Southwest, Inc.; and Mineral Leases, Inc.; and as principal of Royalty Minerals Trust, Ranspot and others raised over $1.7 million from investors throughout the United States. Ranspot failed to disclose to investors a prior felony conviction for mail fraud against William Durkee, the controlling principal of Aransas Oil Company, Inc.; Mineral Leases of the Southwest, Inc.; and Mineral Leases, Inc.; and an Emergency Cease and Desist Order issued by the Texas Securities Commissioner in May 2005 against Durkee, Ranspot, Aransas Oil Co., and others. Ranspot was sentenced to ten years confinement in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice and ordered to pay restitution of $234,200. The sentence was suspended and the defendant placed on probation for a period of ten years.