Plea ends securities fraud case
Nancy McGee guilty of breach of trust, fined $300
By JAMES D. McWILLIAMS
Posted on Thu, Jun. 24, 2004
Staff Writer
A more than $1 million stock-fraud case ended Wednesday when Nancy McGee pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of breach of trust, and was fined a few hundred dollars.
Circuit Judge G. Thomas Cooper accepted the plea deal the day after he sentenced McGee’s husband, Tracy McGee, for fraud. He will spend five years in jail and five years on probation, unless he can repay investors $600,000 by Aug. 23. If he pays, he still will be on probation.
The McGees were scheduled to go to trial Monday on criminal charges of securities fraud, breach of trust, and conspiracy.
Tracy McGee had maintained during his plea hearing Tuesday that his wife was not involved in any criminal conspiracy with him.
“At trial next week, Tracy McGee would have gotten on the stand and said his wife was innocent,” said Jennifer Evans, assistant deputy attorney general.
Prosecutors thought that accepting Nancy McGee’s plea to a lesser charge was better than having her go unpunished, Evans said.
Nancy McGee pleaded guilty to a charge of breach of trust of less than $1,000, which has a maximum sentence of 30 days in jail or a $500 fine, Evans said.
Nancy McGee’s attorney, Jack Swerling, said Judge Cooper sentenced his client to pay $300, which Evans called “reasonable” under the circumstances.
Swerling said his client is relieved.
“She is pleased with the outcome, based on what she was facing,” he said. “She has always maintained she was not involved in the securities fraud.”
None of the McGees’ victims was present at her plea hearing, which Evans said was hastily arranged after Tracy McGee’s plea Tuesday.
With the McGees’ cases over, the state dropped charges against McGee employee Wesley Shaw, who had been accused of helping the couple mislead investors.
The charges stemmed from businesses Tracy McGee started during the tech boom of the late 1990s and after. He was accused of falsely telling investors he would make a fortune creating high-technology products, including specialized laptop computers for health care workers and flat-panel videoscreens for sports arenas. He was charged in April 2003.
Reach McWilliams at (803) 771-8308 or jmcwilliams@thestate.com. |
