FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ANGELA DODGE
TUESDAY, NOV. 6, 2007 PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST
http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS <file://WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS> (713) 567-9388
FRAUDULANT CATTLE INVESTMENT SCHEME LANDS BRYAN WOMAN IN PRISON
(HOUSTON, Texas) – Lisa Camarillo Smith, 34, of Bryan, Texas, has been sentenced to prison for mail fraud and wire fraud arising from her involvement in a fraudulent cattle investment scheme, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
Smith was convicted of a total of 26 counts of mail and wire fraud earlier this year. Today, U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison sentenced Smith to a total of 70 months in prison, without parole, imposing a 60-month-term for 14 counts of conviction and 70 months on the remaining 12 counts of conviction. The court has ordered all 26 prison terms to be served concurrently.
In addition to the prison term, Ellison ordered Smith to pay restitution in the amount of $2.6 million to the victims of this Ponzi scheme and perform 280 hours of community service during a three-year period of supervised release following her imprisonment.
The evidence gathered through the investigative efforts of the FBI in Bryan, the Bryan Police Department and the Brazos County District Attorney's Office lead to Smith's plea of guilty earlier this year. Smith admitted she and others created a Ponzi scheme in which more than 160 investors were promised large returns on their investment in the purchasing and selling of cattle through a fictitious genetic research grant program sponsored by Texas A&M University located in College Station, Texas. The total amount of cash actually lost by investors in the scheme was $2,615,000.
To further the scheme, Smith, who represented herself as a post-graduate student at Texas A&M University working on a doctorate in cattle reproduction, lied to investors telling them a grant existed between Texas A&M University, the King ranch and three other Texas ranches for the purchase of cattle, upon which she was doing genetic research. Investors were offered the opportunity to invest in the project and promised substantial returns by purchasing cattle from the ranches through her for $600 per head. A return of approximately $300 to $400 was promised approximately nine months after the purchase through the resale of the cattle to the ranches by Texas A&M University for $1,000 per head. Smith told investors she would keep only $50 from the sale of each cow for tax purposes. Contracts for the purchase of the cattle were signed by Smith and the investor. Smith lied when she told investors Texas A&M University sponsored a genetic research program, that she was enrolled in the university as a doctoral student and that she had purchased cattle from any of the ranches.
TUESDAY, NOV. 6, 2007 PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST
http://WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS <file://WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/TXS> (713) 567-9388
FRAUDULANT CATTLE INVESTMENT SCHEME LANDS BRYAN WOMAN IN PRISON
(HOUSTON, Texas) – Lisa Camarillo Smith, 34, of Bryan, Texas, has been sentenced to prison for mail fraud and wire fraud arising from her involvement in a fraudulent cattle investment scheme, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced today.
Smith was convicted of a total of 26 counts of mail and wire fraud earlier this year. Today, U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison sentenced Smith to a total of 70 months in prison, without parole, imposing a 60-month-term for 14 counts of conviction and 70 months on the remaining 12 counts of conviction. The court has ordered all 26 prison terms to be served concurrently.
In addition to the prison term, Ellison ordered Smith to pay restitution in the amount of $2.6 million to the victims of this Ponzi scheme and perform 280 hours of community service during a three-year period of supervised release following her imprisonment.
The evidence gathered through the investigative efforts of the FBI in Bryan, the Bryan Police Department and the Brazos County District Attorney's Office lead to Smith's plea of guilty earlier this year. Smith admitted she and others created a Ponzi scheme in which more than 160 investors were promised large returns on their investment in the purchasing and selling of cattle through a fictitious genetic research grant program sponsored by Texas A&M University located in College Station, Texas. The total amount of cash actually lost by investors in the scheme was $2,615,000.
To further the scheme, Smith, who represented herself as a post-graduate student at Texas A&M University working on a doctorate in cattle reproduction, lied to investors telling them a grant existed between Texas A&M University, the King ranch and three other Texas ranches for the purchase of cattle, upon which she was doing genetic research. Investors were offered the opportunity to invest in the project and promised substantial returns by purchasing cattle from the ranches through her for $600 per head. A return of approximately $300 to $400 was promised approximately nine months after the purchase through the resale of the cattle to the ranches by Texas A&M University for $1,000 per head. Smith told investors she would keep only $50 from the sale of each cow for tax purposes. Contracts for the purchase of the cattle were signed by Smith and the investor. Smith lied when she told investors Texas A&M University sponsored a genetic research program, that she was enrolled in the university as a doctoral student and that she had purchased cattle from any of the ranches.
