Man pleads guilty to federal conspiracy charges in investment scheme

Thursday, April 27, 2000 | 12:36 p.m.

Calvin Frederick Brown is one of five men charged in a Gainesville federal indictment, unsealed in October, accusing them of stealing millions of dollars through fake investment programs from June 1996 to January 1998.

Brown, 54, of Williston, faces up to 25 years in a federal prison based on his plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office.

The prosecution, in exchange for Brown's plea and cooperation, dismissed 17 other felony counts Wednesday, including interstate transportation of stolen property.

Those programs, including TKO Maintenance, Ventura Enterprises, Sierra Alpine and Global Funding Limited, were a front for a maze of accounts used to hide up to $20 million from investors, the government alleges.

Brown's plea agreement says he operated as a promoter and broker for the international financial scam involving offshore accounts. Brown persuaded people to invest money in foreign currency trading, promising a $150,000 return on a $25,000 investment in six weeks.

Investigators have said they aren't sure how many people invested in the scam.

Brown's co-defendants, Robert Charles Stewart, 40, of Gainesville, George Melvin Bevre, 49, of Atlanta, James Charles Morris, 54, of Gardnerville, Nev., and Royce Edward Tolley, 43, of Denver face up to 35 years each in federal prison if convicted on 19 counts, including wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property and money laundering conspiracy.

Their trial, originally set for April, now is set for September. Brown faces sentencing after the trial.