The man who headed the Ponzi Scheme known as FourWinds Logistics, which ensnared former State Senator Carlos Uresti, is expected to get a hefty prison sentence when he appears before U.S. District Judge David Ezra for sentencing this afternoon, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
Stanley Bates was the founder and the president of the company, which claimed to be selling fracking sand for the Eagle Ford Shale industry, but testimony in the Uresti trial indicated Bates led a 'party house,' where investors money was used to fly in hookers from Las Vegas and buy narcotics.
Prosecutors say FourWinds was a scam, designed to separate investors from their cash.
Uresti, who was brought in as an attorney for the firm and also to help round up investors, was convicted following a sensational trial earlier this year and has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. He is free so he can prepare his defense for a second federal trial, on an unrelated bribery charge, later this year.
Uresti has resigned from the State Senate and has surrendered his law license. He recently pleaded with the court to allow him to begin collecting his $80,000 a year Legislative pension, claiming he is too broke to even buy groceries.
Bates entered a guilty plea to the charges he is facing.
Two others officials of FourWinds, a former bookkeeper and a consultant have already been sentenced. Bates is the final defendant to face sentencing.