San Fernando Valley Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for His Role in Investment Scheme

LOS ANGELES—A man who participated in an investment scheme and then became a fugitive for several years was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, announced United States Attorney in Los Angeles, André Birotte Jr., FBI Assistant Director in Charge, Steven Martinez and Inspector in Charge, B. Bernard Ferguson, for the United States Postal Inspection Service in Los Angeles.

United States District Court Judge George Wu sentenced Jason Corry, 38, of the San Fernando Valley, to the 18 month sentence and six months home detention during today’s sentencing hearing. Wu also ordered Corry to pay $4.8 million restitution to his victims.

According to information filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in October 2011, Corry and others solicited investments from hundreds of victims in excess of $3 million during 1997 and 1998. Corry and a co-defendant were originally charged in a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles in 1999; however Corry became a fugitive for several years.

According to the information, Corry was the nominal president of a company known as United States Telegraph and Telephone (UST&T), which Corry and others purported was involved in the telecommunications and utilities industries. UST&T had a mailing address in Calabasas, California, according to the information. Corry and others solicited victims to invest in UST&T and that large profits were predicted since the company was planning on merging with an energy and telecommunications company. Victims were told that UST&T had been planning on an initial public offering within a few months and gained victims’ trust by telling investors that UST&T employees’ own relatives had invested in the stock. Victims were also told that a minimum investment of between approximately $10,000 and $20,000 would be required to invest and that there was a limited amount of time in which investors could take advantage of the offer.

Victims were told they would receive a dividend of approximately 9 percent and would receive anywhere between four to 25 times their investment during the first year the company went public.

Investigators determined that the representations made to victims were false and that investor money was used to pay the commissions of telemarketers at UST&T, including Corry’s.

After Corry was charged in connection with the investment scheme, he assumed a false identity and became a fugitive for several years. He was arrested by the United States Marshals Service in June of 2011 in the San Fernando Valley to face prosecution for the 1999 case. Corry pleaded to guilty to mail fraud in 2011.

This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the United States Postal Inspection Service. Corry was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.