Acting United States Attorney Bob Murray announced today, May 28, that a Colorado man has pled guilty to crimes arising from two schemes to defraud investors in Wyoming and around the country.
On May 25, 2021, 52-year-old Robert William Mitchell, a.k.a. Bob Mitchell, Centennial, Colorado entered guilty pleas to an indictment charging two separate but related investor frauds.
First, Mitchell pleaded guilty to mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud investors in a Wyoming natural gas production venture. According to court records, Mitchell solicited investments he claimed would be used to create a publicly traded, natural gas production company in Wyoming. Instead of developing any company or safeguarding the investors’ money as promised, Mitchell used the money to pay his personal expenses and to finance the scheme.
Mitchell stole over $1.3 million dollars from about three dozen investors, most of whom lived in and around Gillette, Wyoming.
Second, Mitchell pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud in relation to the common stock of NuTech Energy Resources Inc. According to court records, Mitchell conspired to artificially inflate the market price of NuTech common stock by manipulative trading and by releasing to the public false and misleading information about NuTech’s business prospects.
Mitchell then sold his worthless NuTech shares to unwitting investors in the public market. The indictment also charges three other men with crimes arising from the alleged conspiracy. These defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Their jury trial will begin on September 20, 2021, in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
As a result of his guilty pleas, Mitchell may be sentenced to serve up to 25 years in prison, including three years of supervised release. In addition, he could face fines up to $250,000 and be ordered to pay restitution to the victims. Mitchell is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Alan Johnson in Cheyenne on August 4, 2021.
These crimes were investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and the United States Department of Interior’s Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorneys Eric Heimann and Thomas Szott are prosecuting the case.