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Press Release

Federal Jury Convicts Former Midland Teacher, Lacrosse Coach of Five Counts Related to Wire Fraud

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Texas

MIDLAND, Texas – A federal jury in Midland convicted a Midland man Thursday for one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of aiding and abetting wire fraud.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, William Logsdon, 54, used the trust he had built with community members during his time as a lacrosse coach and teacher in the Midland area, and even the trust he had established with members of his own family, to convince them to “invest” in a Ponzi scheme.  Logsdon conducted the scheme in concert with his mother-in-law, Jamie Thompson, a former geologist in the oil and gas industry who had previously pleaded guilty. 

Together, Thompson and Logsdon told their victims that the money they were “investing” was being used to purchase royalty interests for various oil, gas and mineral projects located in Texas and New Mexico.  The royalty interests were allegedly being purchased through an entity called the National Royalty Group, or NRG.  In actuality, the National Royalty Group did not exist, and rather than purchasing royalty interests, Thompson and Logsdon used the money to primarily pay for personal expenses, as well as to advance the Ponzi scheme by providing some “distributions” back to earlier “investors.” 

In total, Logsdon and Thompson are believed to have defrauded their victims out of more than $1,500,000.  

U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas made the announcement.

The Midland Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Fedock prosecuted the case.

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Updated June 12, 2023

Topic
Financial Fraud