Jackson lobbyist Ted Brent Alexander has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud investors in a timber deed investment scheme.
Alexander, 57, issued his guilty plea on Wednesday afternoon before United States District Judge Carlton W. Reeves to a Criminal Information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to court documents, Alexander admitted that between 2011 and 2018, he and a co-conspirator participated in a scheme to defraud investors by soliciting millions of dollars under false pretenses and failing to use investor funds as promised.
Both Alexander and his co-conspirator represented to investors that they were loaning funds to Madison Timber Properties to buy timber rights from landowners and then sell the timber rights to lumber mills at a higher price.
Alexander and his co-conspirator then promised investors a return of 10 percent or more after one year on each unit of invested capital.
The two also led their investors to believe that they were inspecting each tract of land and were vetting each document, deed, and contract in support of their investments.
In addition, Alexander and his co-conspirator represented to their investors that the two would only profit from each series of the investment if it performed as promised to the investors. This gave the investors the misleading impression that their interests were fully aligned with those of Alexander and his co-conspirator.
It was later revealed in court that Alexander and his co-conspirator failed to inspect each property related to the timber rights underlying each investment and did not verify each executed lumber mill agreement related to each investment.
Alexander and his conspirator also received undisclosed payments of approximately 3% for recruiting investments to the timber investment scheme immediately upon transferring the investment funds to the purported timber broker.
Now, Alexander, who faces a maximum sentence of up to five years imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000, will be sentenced on August 21, 2023, before Judge Reeves. Restitution is mandatory under federal law.
