Friday, October 23, 2015
Last of Three Defendants is Sentenced in Wire Fraud Scheme to Market Pharmaceutical Ointment
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma – LAWRENCE GENE BOTHWELL, 35, of Oklahoma City, TOMMY LYNN RICHARDSON, 53, of Ninnekah, Oklahoma, and KENNETH BOYCE,55, of Pleasant View, Utah, have each been sentenced for their involvement in a fraudulent scheme to market a pharmaceutical ointment, announced Sanford C. Coats, United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
Bothwell was the founder of Bothwell Consulting, LLC, an Oklahoma limited liability company and investment firm whose principal place of business was in Oklahoma City. Bothwell, Richardson, and Boyce were executives at Bothwell Consulting. Prior to founding Bothwell Consulting, Bothwell worked for the Massachusetts-based developer and owner of a topical ointment called Menastil to develop a website to market Menastil to a wider consumer base. However, Bothwell never acquired any ownership interest or distribution rights in Menastil.
On June 17, 2014, a federal grand jury returned a 13-count indictment charging Bothwell, Richardson, and Boyce for their sale of fraudulent debentures. Specifically, the defendants falsely represented to investors that Bothwell Consulting would use their investments to market Menastil when, in reality, Bothwell Consulting owned no distribution rights to the drug. Instead, the defendants used the fraudulent proceeds for their own financial benefit. Investors were also told that these debentures were secured by a multi-million dollar trust, which did not actually exist.
On October 3, 2014, all three defendants pleaded guilty to their involvement in the scheme. The three men have now been sentenced by United States District Judge Joe Heaton as follows:
- On May 14, 2015, Bothwell was sentenced to serve 78 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,703,781.68 in restitution.
- On July 31, 2015, Boyce was sentenced to serve 30 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,475, 272.97 in restitution.
- On October 21, 2015, Richardson was sentenced to serve 68 months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $1,698,117.50 in restitution.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and was prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Sanford C. Coats and Assistant U.S. Attorney Julia E. Barry.