Prison Sentence for Georgia Ponzi Schemer

A Statesboro man was recently sentenced to twenty-seven months in federal prison for operating a commodities trading operation that was revealed to be a Ponzi scheme.  Joseph L. Autry, 44, was also ordered to serve a three-year supervised release term, along with $155,200 in restitution to defrauded investors.

Autry operated Autry Capital Management LLC, which, from May 2008 until January 2010 took in over $250,000 from investors who were promised high returns from what they assumed was sophisticated currency future contract trading. Instead, Autry commingled investor funds and used investor funds to pay personal expenses and returns to older investors.  

Autry also faces potential fines from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which initiated an action against Autry in September 2010 seeking civil monetary penalties and restitution to investors.