BUSINESS
Petro America defendants convicted on all counts
May 15
BY MARK DAVIS
The Kansas City Star
A federal jury found all five defendants in the Petro America Corp. trial guilty on all counts, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Kansas City.
Petro founder Owen Isreal Hawkins Jr., 57 of Kansas City, Kan., who defended himself at trial, was taken into custody after the verdicts were read in U.S. District Court in Kansas City this afternoon.
A hearing will be held next week to determine whether Hawkins will be free on bond until his sentencing.
The jury convicted Hawkins and four other defendants on all charges, said Don Ledford, a spokesman with the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Hawkins had faced faced one count each of securities fraud, aggravated currency structuring, money laundering, conspiracy and two counts of wire fraud.
Teresa Brown, 55 of Bandera, Texas, whose attorney acknowledged she kept millions of dollars from Petro stock sales, had faced six counts of wire fraud, one count of securities fraud and conspiracy.
Johnny Heurung, 59 of Little Falls, Minn., described at trial as the Petro stock pitch man for his weekly conference calls about Petro, had faced two counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. One of the wire fraud charges was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes and was not weighed by the jury.
William Miller, 42 of Independence, had faced charges of money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy.
Martin Roper, 47 of Kansas City, Kan., had faced the conspiracy charge.
Ledford said the other four defendants were released on bond pending sentencing.
The case centered on sales of stock in Kansas City-based Petro America Corp.
Backers hailed Petro as a $284 billion enterprise backed by gold mines and businesses. Prosecutors declared it a fraud that bilked investors out of more than $7 million.
Many who bought shares were promised quick wealth, often as part of a religious pitch. Petro’s stock — which Missouri securities officials had ordered shelved in 2008 — spread across the nation often for $100 or $1,000 from buyers who had never invested before.
Jurors rejected Hawkins’ claim that Petro America was a real company that the government had sought to destroy.
“The government is trying to convince you that this company isn't real,” Hawkins had said in his closing arguments to the jury on Tuesday. “They're railroading people. They're railroading shareholders.”
Attorneys for the other four defendants had portrayed their clients as believers in Hawkins’ representations, that they had acted on good faith.
“Theresa Brown thought Petro America was legitimate, was a real company, and was her lottery ticket, essentially,” attorney Willie Epps Jr. told jurors on behalf of his client. “She thought everyone was going to get rich.”
In her closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Mahoney had questioned whether Hawkins was “delusional or really that stupid” to believe he could build what would be the nation's second-largest corporation with no financial investment of his own in such a short period of time.
“You don't have to be around him very long to realize he is utterly incompetent,” Mahoney said. “He doesn't follow through, he just makes excuses. He thinks this is how business is done.”
The trial began three weeks ago with jury selection and its schedule was prolonged by federal furloughs under federal spending cuts called sequestration that prevented court sessions on Fridays.
Nine others from six states had pleaded guilty to various felony charges prior to the trial.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
To reach Mark Davis, call 816-234-4372 or send email to mdavis@kcstar.com.
Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/15/4237488/petro-america-defendants-convicted.html#storylink=cpy
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