A woman from Texas—the mistress of Christian radio host William Neil Gallagher— has been sentenced to life in prison for her role in a Ponzi scheme.
Debra Mae Carter
Debra Mae Carter, 65, was found guilty of money laundering on July 8. Gallagher, the alleged mastermind behind the Ponzi scheme, received three life sentences, plus another 30-year sentence for scamming his radio listeners out of millions of dollars. Gallagher must serve all of those sentences concurrently.
“He ruthlessly stole from his clients who trusted him for almost a decade,” said Lori Varnell, chief of the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Elder Financial Fraud Team. “He amassed $32 million in loss to all of his clients and exploited many elder individuals. He worked his way around churches preying on people who believed he was a Christian.”
The Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office told USA Today that Gallagher’s role was to “bring in the money” while Carter was tasked with making sure the victim’s couldn’t recover any of it. “The two ultimately planned to retire to a huge ranch together,” the DA said.
“She is a blight on society. She’s just a liar. That’s what she does,” Varnell said of Carter. Prosecutors said Carter was able to launder much of the money through fake charities, land, and rental property. It is estimated that at least 170 people were victims in the Ponzi scheme. The majority were retirees.
William Neil Gallagher
One of the victims, Brenda Wilkerson, lost inheritance money she had invested with Gallagher. She and her late husband invested $50,000 in 2016 after hearing that an elder in their church had also invested. “If she had that money now, she could pay off the mortgage on her home,” prosecutors said. “Instead, she will be making payments until she dies.”
Gallagher has been in prison since March of 2019 when he was arrested on similar charges in Dallas County. He pleaded guilty to those charges in 2020 and was sentenced to a 25-year prison term.
TO OUR READERS: Do you have a story idea, or do you want to give us feedback about this or any other story? Please email us: info@ministrywatch.com
Access to MinistryWatch content is free. However, we hope you will support our work with your prayers and financial gifts. To make a donation, click here.