Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.

April 08, 2008

Former Attorney Sentenced To Federal Prison and Ordered To Pay $4.5 Million In Restitution To Victims

United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Cameron Campbell, formerly an attorney based in La Jolla, California, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in San Diego by the Honorable Barry Ted Moskowitz to serve 63 months in federal custody, based on Campbell’s convictions for conspiracy and wire fraud. In addition to the custodial sentence, Judge Moskowitz ordered that Campbell serve a three-year term of supervised release following his release from prison and pay over $4.5 million in restitution to the victims in the case.

According to Assistant United States Attorneys William Cole and John Owens, who prosecuted the case, many victims believed they could trust Campbell because he was an attorney. More than 90 victims lost a total of over $4.5 million in the scheme. Many investors were retirees who invested, and lost, retirement savings. Following his guilty plea in this case, Campbell resigned from the State Bar of California and is no longer licensed to practice law.

According to court records, Campbell and his coconspirators, Joseph Wayne McCool and Donald John Manning, were charged with operating "The Brixon Group Ltd." (“Brixon”), a company which fraudulently
solicited millions of dollars from members of the public, supposedly for participation in high-yield investment programs. Campbell and his coconspirators allegedly induced people to invest in Brixon by falsely representing that the investments would generate returns of 10 percent per month, that the State Bar of California insured the investors’ principal, and that McCool was a banking expert who, prior to working with Brixon, had successfully managed a large private trust in Europe.

As part of his guilty plea, Campbell admitted that he and his coconspirators, in fact, intentionally concealed from investors that most of the money invested in Brixon would not be placed into investments and that new funds received from investors would be used to make payments to earlier investors. Campbell also admitted that he intentionally concealed from investors the fact that, just prior to operating Brixon, McCool had served more than two years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods. When Brixon stopped making payments to investors, Campbell falsely told investors that their funds were tied up in Europe due to the United States Patriot Act and a variety of other fictitious banking problems. Campbell further admitted that, through the Brixon scheme, he and his coconspirators converted much of the investors’ money to their own personal use.

Both the United States Attorney's Office and the FBI acknowledged the assistance of the Arizona Corporation Commission in the investigation.

Campbell’s co-defendant, Donald Manning, was apprehended in Nicaragua in late February 2008.

Law enforcement continues to seek the public's assistance in locating Joseph Wayne McCool, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.

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CALIFORNIA CRIMINAL DEFENSE LAWYER

JOSEPH SHEMARIA

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Latest Legal News from the Criminal Courts of Los Angeles, California and the U.S.