Feb 24
2014
2014
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 selling investments in German Government Gold Bearer Bonds from the 1920s and interests in an investment pool that would be used to acquire a painting by Paul Gauguin. In 1999, Erxleben was convicted of a $35 million foreign currency trading fraud and served five years in federal prison.