Senior U.S. District Judge James J. Brady sentenced Bryan Lee Addington, age 56, of Ethel, to serve 159 months in federal prison for fraudulently obtaining over $8 million from victim investors in an investment fraud scheme. The Court also ordered Addington to make restitution payments to his victims in the amount of $5,393,347. Addington will be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release upon his release from prison. Addington pled guilty to mail fraud and aggravated identity theft in March 2017, admitting that he failed to invest victim funds as promised and instead spent the funds on personal expenses. Addington acknowledged that he issued his victim investors promissory notes which he had no intention of honoring, and provided them with false account statements.
The investigation was conducted by the Securities Division of the Office of Financial Institutions, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Internal Revenue Service. Addington was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Louisiana.