Mark Cornell, owner of JMACK Energy, pleaded guilty to securities fraud in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky last week, admitting that he engaged in a scheme that bilked investors out of three million dollars. According to court records, Cornell’s co-defendants gave investors false information regarding oil wells to represent that they were producing massive amounts of oil.

In his plea agreement, Cornell confessed that his job in the scheme was to act as the local operator of a number of reworked wells for which production levels were exaggerated. He was paid a substantial amount of money to rework the wells and to provide guarantees of these excessive production levels. Those guarantees were then used to sell royalty interests in the wells to investors through high-pressure telephone tactics.

Cornell is scheduled to be sentenced in June. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment.

In addition to his criminal case, Cornell was sued by a Canadian investor, Kyle Coutu, for fraud and breach of contract. Coutu gave $52,580 to Cornell for investments. Cornell told him that he believed the oil well would produce ten to seventeen barrels of oil a day and a complete return on investment within the first month. Coutu, however, received nothing after several months, and Cornell cut off contact with him after getting the second investment. A $167,740 judgment was entered against Cornell last year in that case.

If you or someone you know has lost money as a result of an investment or Ponzi scheme, please contact Richard Frankowski at 888-741-7503 to discuss your potential legal remedies or complete the contact form.