AUSTIN, TEXAS: A former FBI agent has been convicted on eight federal counts related to a sophisticated "secret probation" scam that preyed upon an unsuspecting victim.
He was convicted of conning a North Texas woman out of $700,000 by convincing her, Leigha Simonton, US Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, announced in a news release on Thursday.
Who is William Roy Stone?
William Roy Stone, Jr, 64, along with his co-defendant Joseph Eventino DeLeon, 64, orchestrated an elaborate scheme that convinced a woman in Granbury, Texas, that she was on "secret probation" for drug crimes in a non-existent federal court in Austin.
The victim ultimately lost hundreds of thousands of dollars. Stone's conviction includes one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, one count of engaging in monetary transactions derived from unlawful activity, and one count of false impersonation of a federal officer.
If sentenced to the maximum allowable penalties, Stone could face up to 158 years in prison. Meanwhile, DeLeon, found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.
The trial's swift conclusion, taking merely four hours of jury deliberation after a 12-day trial, showcases the overwhelming evidence against the defendants.
William Roy Stone and Joseph Eventino DeLeon's deception unveiled
The scam began to unfold in November 2015 when Stone managed to convince the victim, known only as "C.T.," that she was within the jurisdiction of a fabricated "Judge Anderson's court in Austin, Texas."
The pair posed as agents of this fictional judge, pressuring C.T. to compensate them for their alleged oversight of her fabricated probation.
In their pursuit of illicit gains, Stone and DeLeon coerced C.T. into providing daily activity reports via text message while extracting substantial monetary sums from her to safeguard her from the fabricated probation's imaginary consequences.
The DOJ disclosed, "Over the course of eleven months, C.T. gave Mr. Stone more than $700,000 and Mr. DeLeon more than $50,000." This staggering financial exploitation further included the victim's acquisition of property and vehicles for Stone and DeLeon, all under the pretense of complying with her invented probation terms.
Manipulation tactics used by William Roy Stone
Stone's manipulation tactics escalated to threats and coercion, as he warned C.T. that revealing her "probation status" to anyone could result in dire consequences, including imprisonment and loss of custody of her children.
C.T.'s growing skepticism prompted her to take the initiative of recording conversations with Stone.
In one of these recorded phone calls, Stone attempted to evade C.T.'s concerns by stating, "We don’t need to discuss that anymore. It’s over. It’s done."
As part of their manipulation, the pair convinced C.T. to distance herself from her own family, alleging that her relatives sought to seize her inheritance assets.
An astonishing detail emerged during the trial, as it was revealed that Stone and DeLeon proposed that marrying Stone would nullify C.T.'s fabricated probation. “Mr. DeLeon even carried a weapon in C.T.’s home while purportedly providing ‘protective services’ for her,” the announcement added.
According to Law&Crime, Stone was indicted in May 2021, while DeLeon was indicted later that year in December.
