August 18, 2014

Operator of Financial Consulting Firm Sentenced to 46 Months’ Imprisonment for Investment Fraud

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that on August 15, 2014, United States District Court Judge Malachy E. Mannion sentenced August John Stile, Jr., age 50, of Hughestown, Pennsylvania, to 46 months’ imprisonment. In October 2013, Stile pleaded guilty to defrauding investors of approximately $310,000. This was Stile’s second federal conviction for fraud since 2001.

Stile was the purported Vice President of JFC Group and the President of Stile Consulting. JFC Group had an office in Dickson City, Pennsylvania, and Stile Consulting had office in Exeter, Pennsylvania. Stile was indicted on the fraud charges in April 2013.

According to United States Attorney Peter Smith, between 2007 and 2009, Stile schemed to defraud private investors by fraudulently offering short-term investment opportunities based upon a promise of a return of the investment with substantial interest in less than 90 days. In one instance, Stile promised an investor a payout of $265,000 in return for a short-term investment of $25,000—the payout to occur in roughly 40 days.

Rather than investing the money he received as promised, Stile used the funds for his own purposes which included the purchase of vehicles, and improvements to his other property.

Judge Mannion sentenced Stile to the top of the applicable Sentencing Guidelines range. In addition to the imprisonment term, Judge Mannion ordered Stile to pay restitution to the victims in the amount of $327,500. Judge Mannion denied

Stile’s request for a delay to begin his sentence and ordered him immediately into custody.

Stile was previously prosecuted in federal court for fraud in 2001 and was sentenced to a prison term. In 2011, he was sentenced to an additional 14 months in federal prison for violating the terms of his supervised release in that case as a result of the fraudulent investment scam activity that led to his indictment in the present case.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney John Gurganus prosecuted the case.