Owner Of Bankrupt Young Oil Company Sentenced To 33 Months For Securities Fraud, Mail Fraud, Failure To File Income Tax Returns, And Illegal Possession Of A Firearm

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The owner of bankrupt Young Oil Company was sentenced to 33 months in prison today, by Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas B. Russell, for charges included in three separate indictments including failure to file an income tax return with the Internal Revenue Service, mail fraud in connection with the solicitation of investor funds for oil drilling partnerships, securities fraud, submitting false statements for the purchase of a firearm, and for the illegal possession of a firearm by a person addicted to controlled substances announced David J. Hale, United States Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky.

Anthony L. Young, 54, of Metcalfe County, Kentucky, fraudulently solicited investments through his company, Young Oil Corporation between November 2007 through December 2008. According to a March 8, 2014, plea agreement, Young falsely represented the cost to investors in three separate oil drilling partnerships. Investors believed the $750,000 solicited for each oil well represented the total drilling costs. However, Young admitted to using the majority of the money for other purposes including personal use. Also, during this same period, Young, by use of the United States mail, did defraud others, make untrue statements of material fact, and engage in acts, that operated as a fraud and deceit upon investors under programs under Young Oil Corporation with the purchase and sale of a security. Young did this by misrepresenting the total costs for each of the three Prospects and by misrepresenting his actual use of investor money.

Also, Young failed to file federal income tax returns as required by law for calendar years 2005 and 2006. During this time Young received taxable income of $496,000 in 2005, and his tax due was $133,943. In calendar year 2006, Young received taxable income of $1,167,000, and, was therefore legally required to file a federal income tax return. His tax due was $359,485 for 2006.

Young was also sentenced today, for causing another person to knowingly make a false statement and representation on an ATF Form 4473 in purchasing a .45 caliber pistol from a licensed firearms dealer and that he possessed the Hi-Point, Model JHP, .45 caliber pistol while being a person addicted to controlled substances, including cocaine and oxycodone.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bryan Calhoun and was investigated by the Kentucky Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Securities, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).