 |
| William Rodney Jackson |
An Athens man pleaded guilty Friday to deceiving four senior citizens out of thousands of dollars, the Alabama Securities Commission announced.
William Rodney Jackson was indicted in 2019 on three counts of first-degree financial exploitation of the elderly. The charges stemmed from incidents in 2019 involving a total of four victims over the age of 60, records show.
ASC Chief Deputy Director Amanda Senn said Jackson used a scheme to convince people to invest with them when they really weren't investing in anything. "It was through theft and deception" that he managed to take thousands of dollars from his victims, all of whom were related to him.
“Alabamians are fortunate that we have laws that allow the prosecution of those who look to exploit the elderly financially,” said ASC Director Joseph P. Borg said. “We want the message to be clear, that if you financially exploit anyone, especially an individual over the age of 60, there will be serious consequences.”
Under Jackson’s plea agreement, he will have to pay $13,500 in restitution. He was also sentenced to five years in prison, suspended pending completion of three years of probation.
Senn thanked Limestone County District Attorney Brian Jones for his help in resolving the case.
“Our elderly are particularly vulnerable to grifters and con men, and our office places a strong emphasis on this criminal activity," Senn said.
She told WAAY 31 their biggest takeaway from cases like these is creating public awareness of these crimes.
"We have a lot of Alabama seniors that are exploited, and so many of them go unreported," she said.
The
ASC encourages anyone with concerns about a potential investment
opportunity or advice to contact their office at 800-222-1253. The
public can also contact the ASC to report suspected fraud, inappropriate
securities business practices or obtain consumer information.
No comments:
Post a Comment