Greenville Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison on Fraud Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office December 10, 2012 |
COLUMBIA, SC—United States Attorney Bill Nettles stated that James Pearce, Jr., age 63, of Greenville, South Carolina, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison. Senior United States District Judge G. Ross Anderson, Jr. imposed the sentence. Judge Anderson also ordered that Mr. Pearce pay $3.9 million in restitution to his victims. Mr. Nettles advised that Mr. Pearce pled guilty in June 2012 before Judge Anderson to wire fraud. The plea came after three days of trial in which witnesses testified that Mr. Pearce convinced them to loan money to him based on his false statements to them that he had a successful currency trading business. Mr. Nettles stated that the evidence was clear that Mr. Pearce, rather than having a successful program, had for approximately seven years lost every penny that he invested in his program. At the guilty plea hearing and at sentencing today, Mr. Pearce readily admitted his guilt and expressed remorse for what he had done.
Mr. Nettles advised that the case was investigated by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David C. Stephens of Greenville.