Petters Associate Pleads Not Guilty

After being indicted on new charges last week, one of the men accused of aiding Thomas Petters in a $3.6 billion dollar Ponzi scheme entered a not guilty plea to all charges.  James Fry, 57, was charged in a twenty-four count indictment that replaced an earlier indictment filed in April.  Another associate of Petters, Frank E. Vennes Jr., 53, was also indicted on twenty-four counts of fraud, money laundering, and making false statements on credit applications. 

Fry pled not guilty to five counts of securities fraud, four counts of wire fraud, and three counts of making a false statement to the SEC.  Each charge carries a potential maximum prison sentence of five years.  Trial is currently scheduled to begin in February 2012.