Man who stole millions from wife, dad in NC tries putting ‘hex’ on prosecutor, feds say
A 63-year-old man from Florida bilked millions of dollars from his wife and father-in-law using his dad’s North Carolina company then paid $500 to hex a federal prosecutor on his case, investigators say.
Now he’s going to prison.
A North Carolina federal judge on Thursday sentenced Treyton Lee Thomas to nearly 27 years behind bars on charges of wire fraud and tax evasion, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a press release. Thomas was also ordered to pay $7.3 million in restitution to his victims and $7.3 million in forfeiture to the U.S. government.
Prosecutors pushed for a sentencing enhancement for willful obstruction of justice and lack of remorse, court documents show.
“The evidence clearly shows that the defendant is a man with no moral compass,” prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum. “When approached by federal officers with a valid arrest warrant, (Thomas) refused to surrender. Instead, he placed himself and others, including his wife, in grave danger when he attempted to flee into the darkness of the night with a loaded firearm.”
Thomas was accused of defrauding his father, his father’s business associates, his wife and his father-in-law from January 2005 to August 2013 by holding himself out as a “successful Harvard-educated investment advisor.”
In reality, he had never earned an undergraduate degree.
His father owned a used-car warranty company, NC&VA Warranty, in Roxboro, prosecutors said.
Thomas told his victims their money was being invested conservatively in U.S. Treasury bills, but he was actually making “risky trades” in commodities and futures, prosecutors said.
He then covered up the fraud using fabricated statements that were later used to take out $1.9 million in loans from financial institutions, according to the government.
Thomas also used $1.6 million for personal expenses, prosecutors said — namely an oceanfront condominium in Naples, Florida, and an exclusive membership to a golf and yacht club.
He eventually mortgaged his father’s real estate holdings to try and conceal the investment losses and keep up the wealthy facade, prosecutors said. He also used investors’ money to pay the banks as well as his wife and father-in-law.
A federal grand jury indicted Thomas in 2016 with 21 counts of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering, court documents show.
But the indictment didn’t stop Thomas from continuing to “live lavishly,” prosecutors said.
“He moved to a magnificent estate formerly owned by President Thomas Jefferson in Charlottesville, Virginia, surrounded by rolling fields, a pond, an underground swimming pool and an enormous barn to house his two Range Rovers,” they said. “He made no efforts to help his penniless and ailing father.”
His father, Ronnie Thomas, and father-in-law, William Thomas, have both since died, according to the sentencing memorandum.
Thomas’s wife, Cheryl Stone, said he threatened her verbally and physically during the investigation. She told prosecutors in a letter to the court that her husband’s scheme contributed to her “financial ruin and significant psychological harm.”
“Guilt by association as a ‘White Collar Wife’ has cost my reputation, caused me shame and ostracism,” she said.
Investigators also learned Thomas avoided paying $1.29 million in income tax for two decades by concealing earnings in offshore bank accounts.
Thomas was subsequently charged in a second indictment last year with income tax evasion, according to the government. He only pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax evasion in October 2018.
But his crimes didn’t stop there, court documents show.
“The Probation Office concluded the defendant paid an individual $500 to place a ‘hex’ on (the lead prosecutor), offered to pay a fellow inmate $10,000 to harm her and attempted to call an undercover federal agent who the defendant believed could get rid of her for a fee,” prosecutors said in the sentencing memorandum.
The U.S. Marshal Service conducted a “threat assessment” on both prosecutors’ homes and implored the local police department to regularly monitor the lead prosecutor as a result, court documents show.
The Department of Justice even paid to upgrade her home security system, prosecutors said.
“The court agreed with the government that Thomas had attempted to obstruct justice and was not entitled to a reduced sentence for acceptance of responsibility even though he pled guilty,” prosecutors said in the statement. “Several victims spoke at the sentencing hearing, describing the financial and emotional toll Thomas’ crimes had caused.”
He received roughly 22 years for wire fraud and five years for tax evasion.
