On January 30, 2025, Jerry O. Pearson, 62, of Alexandria, Louisiana, was sentenced in United States District Court for committing wire fraud.  Pearson was sentenced to 63 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $3,431,152.21.

According to information presented in court, Pearson was the owner/operator of Mid South Retirement Services, LLC (“Mid South”) located in Boyce, Louisiana, from 2012 to 2021.  Pearson managed Self-Directed Individual Retirement Accounts (SDIRA), which is an IRA held by a custodian that allows investment in a wider range of assets than most conventional IRA custodians permit.  Mid South served as the custodian of SDIRAs and managed approximately $40 million in assets.  Pearson created a scheme to defraud clients where he would take funds that Mid South was holding as the custodian, and transfer them to other accounts he controlled, without the client’s permission.  In total, during the scheme, Pearson transferred $3,431,152.21 in client funds from the Mid South client funding bank account to other accounts he controlled.  Pearson then used the funds for himself, as well as the benefit of his family and other companies that he controlled.  In order to keep the scheme from being detected, Pearson would misrepresent to clients that he was investing the funds as they had directed, when, in fact, he was taking the money.  Pearson pleaded guilty on August 16, 2024, to the Bill of Information charging him with one count of wire fraud.

The investigation into Pearson’s activities was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations with assistance from the Securities Division of the Louisiana Office of Financial Institutions.  The prosecution was handled by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Louisiana.