Third Conviction Concludes StaMedia Fraud Saga
Finally, all three members of a trio of Texas con men who ripped off investors for tens of millions of dollars in the StaMedia scam are now in prison, ending five years of legal battles.
In June, Richard Gregory Tilford was sentenced to 40 years in prison for his role in the fraudulent scam that promoted StaMedia, a supposedly robust internet advertising company that falsely claimed to have ad contracts with AT&T Inc. and The Home Depot, and promised investors 9% annual returns. The company never generated any profits.
In 2018, Bobby Guess, a radio financial advisor who counseled listeners and readers about how they could avoid financial scams, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the con.
But the longest sentence was reserved for a former pastor, Timothy Lloyd Booth, who in 2018 was sentenced to 68 years in prison.
According to the Texas State Securities Board, Booth, a former pastor of Way Grace Community Church in McKinney, stole approximately $23 million from mostly elderly individuals, using the funds on luxury automobiles (including multiple Ferraris and Mercedes, plus a Land Rover, an Aston Martin, and a Lamborghini), vacations (Vail, Colorado, Cancun, Mexico, Hilton Head, S.C., and New York City), and floor seats and a suite at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
At his 2018 trial, Booth’s mostly older victims testified they had to return to work and/or forego medical treatments after losing their retirement savings to Booth.
“Our agency will continue to vigorously pursue justice for white collar crime victims,” said Securities Commissioner Travis J. Iles.
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