New York Oil Futures Trader Sent to Prison

HOUSTON – A 33-year-old resident of the Bronx, New York, has been ordered to federal prison following his convictions of wire and mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. A federal jury convicted Christopher Donrick Daley Sept. 21, 2016, following a  two-day trial.

Today, U.S. District Judge Lynn Hughes, who presided over the trial, handed Daley a total sentence of 120 months in prison. He was further ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $614,950 and will serve three years of supervised release following completion of the prison term. In handing down the sentence, the court noted that Daley tried to appear as a family man when he ate with his victims. “You actually sat down with their children when you knew you were stealing them blind,” Hughes said.

Daley devised a scheme to defraud investors by falsely representing he operated a commodity pool which invested in oil futures contracts which would pay investors return of at least 20% per month and had never had a losing month. The evidence at trial showed that Daley received more than $1.4 million in investor funds, but he only invested approximately $195,000.

Daley lost all the investors funds he did invest.

The evidence also proved that Daley emailed monthly statements to his investors showing significant monthly returns when there were none. Daley also used money from the investor funds to purchase a new BMW and Range Rover.

Judge Hughes ordered Daley into custody immediately after the verdict was returned where he will remain pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Braddock and Charles Escher prosecuted the case.