Mike Alfons Campa Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office April 23, 2013 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on April 22, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, Mike Alfons Campa, a 54-year-old resident of Yorba Linda, California, pled guilty to conspiracy to commit fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud. Sentencing has been set for August 5, 2013. He is currently detained.
In an offer of proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Carl E. Rostad and Ryan G. Weldon, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
Campa started a company with his wife. The name of the company was Domestic Energy Solutions. Campa and his wife obtained leases from D.C. for oil and gas rights on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Campa and his wife never paid for the lease rights and never visited Montana or the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
The oil and gas rights were terminated on October 5, 2007. Despite being terminated, Campa continued to solicit investors for money by claiming to have oil and gas rights on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. This continued for approximately five years. It was never explained to any potential “investor” that the leases were terminated, and Campa had no right to drill for oil or gas on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Nor was there ever an attempt to spend any money toward a legitimate oil and gas venture on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
Campa also used e-mails to solicit money from individuals. Had these individuals known that no money was spent on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation for the oil and gas venture and the oil and gas leases were terminated in 2007, they would not have “invested” with Campa. The individuals who invested either mailed or wired money to Campa. Many of these wires crossed state lines and went into the state of California. In total, Campa and his cohorts bilked investors into paying well in excess of half-a-million-dollars in a non-existent venture.
Campa worked with another individual, S.C., and others to start U.S. Oil and Gas to solicit more money out of unsuspecting victims. Victims were told that they needed to pay additional money or their entire investment that began with Domestic Energy Solutions, or other companies, would be lost. Not only did Campa work with S.C., but he also shared money with him.
When arrested and in jail, Campa admitted that he knew the leases on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation were cancelled.
Campa faces possible penalties of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release for the conspiracy to commit fraud charge; and 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release for each of the wire fraud and mail fraud charges.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Department of Interior-Office of Inspector General.