Posted: Monday, 15 March 2010 3:53PM
Oil Fraud Get's You Locked Up
A Dallas-area man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison and ordered to repay nearly $18 million after pleading guilty to fraud in an oil and natural gas drilling scheme.
U.S. Attorney John M. Bales said Monday that 50-year-old Michael Eugene Dannelly of Denton was sentenced in federal court last week on a charge of mail fraud.
Authorities allege that Dannelly bilked investors out of nearly
$17.7 million that they thought was being used to drill oil and natural gas wells in Texas and Oklahoma. Instead, authorities say Dannelly used the money mostly for personal expenses, including
$5.3 million on gambling at two Louisiana casinos.
Dannelly pleaded guilty in August, four months after he was indicted.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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