Pottsboro TX Man Sentenced To 27 Months, $685,000.00 Restitution For Wire Fraud

Muskogee, Oklahoma - The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, announced that JIMMY DALE STRAHAN, age 63, of Pottsboro, Texas, was sentenced on July 30, 2014, to 27 months imprisonment, followed by 36 months of supervised release for Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343. STRAHAN was also ordered to pay $685,347.25 in restitution.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Durant Police Department and the United States Secret Service. The defendant was indicted in June 2013 and entered a plea of guilty in July 2013.

The Indictment alleged on or about March 12, 2010, in the Eastern District of Oklahoma, the defendant, caused to be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce the signals and sounds from a bank account at Shamrock Bank, Caddo, Oklahoma, transferring the funds to a bank account at Landmark Bank, Pottsboro, Texas.

The investigation revealed the STRAHAN, President of Yellowjacket Energy Services, Inc. (YES) marketed and sold shares in YES by falsely representing to potential investors that the company was managed by an Executive Management Team. STRAHAN prepared a fraudulent document that listed the Management Team, which consisted of STRAHAN and seven other individuals with strong oil and gas experience including an attorney, accountant, banker, engineer and geologist, when in fact none of these individuals were owners or advisors to the company. STRAHAN also falsely represented the profitability of the company in an effort to attract investors.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, in Muskogee, presided over the hearing.

Assistant United States Attorney Melody Nelson represented the United States.