Judgment won in oil and gas Ponzi scheme

Tuesday, Aug. 20, 2002 | 11:17 a.m.

The Securities and Exchange Commission won a default judgment last week of more than $1.25 million against two Las Vegas men accused of using the events of Sept. 11 to solicit more than 65 senior citizens nationwide to invest in an oil and gas Ponzi scheme.

James Hammonds and Barry Reed, the owners of Inglewood, Calif.-based oil and natural gas producer Texon Energy Corp. and affiliate Lonestar Petroleum, were accused in a lawsuit filed in November by the SEC in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles of violating federal securities laws.

A federal judge in California ordered the defendants on Aug. 7 to pay $1.25 million plus interest of $16,287. Hammonds was also ordered to pay civil penalties of $110,000.

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