SEATTLE — A Seattle man has pleaded guilty in an investment scheme that cost investors about $200,000, U.S. Attorney Francis Diskin said.
George Lavell Frost, 32, pleaded guilty this week to wire fraud. He could face a maximum of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at his Nov. 30 sentencing, Diskin said in a statement.
Frost’s business, Frost Enterprises, falsely promised five investors that their money would be placed in enterprises such as real estate loans and projects, an adult care facility and a mortgage brokerage business, court records said.
Instead, Frost used the money for his own personal use, prosecutors said.
He failed to disclose facts to investors, including the risks of the investments, the uses of the money, his personal financial condition and the source of the "interest" investors would receive, prosecutors said.
Boat sinks: The U.S. Coast Guard rescued six people Friday after a boat flooded and sank about 20 miles west of the mouth of the Columbia River. The 40-foot boat called for help just before 12:30 p.m. Two Coast Guard helicopters responded and dropped a water pump to the crew, Coast Guard officials said. The boat’s passengers were not able to start the pump, so rescuers transferred a second pump to the sinking boat from a motorized lifeboat, officials said. The second pump did not work either, and the boat sank. The passengers were all wearing life jackets and suffered only minor hypothermia, officials said.
Coho ruling appeal pressed: Gov. John Kitzhaber has urged the federal government to appeal a judge’s ruling that threw out Endangered Species Act protection for Oregon coastal coho salmon. In a letter this week to Commerce Secretary Donald Evans, Kitzhaber wrote that he was afraid that if the ruling stands, there will be calls to use hatcheries to rebuild salmon runs while abandoning efforts to restore and protect the overall health of watersheds. Last week, U.S. District Judge Michael Hogan in Eugene threw out the threatened species listing for Oregon coastal coho, directing the National Marine Fisheries Service to reconsider it based on the best available science. The listing covered coho in rivers on the northern two-thirds of the Oregon coast.
Fires were set: Investigators believe at least seven fires that burned around Coos Bay this week were started by arsonists. All the fires were started Wednesday or Thursday and were within one mile of each other. One burned one acre of city property Thursday. Most fires were quickly extinguished, but one blaze Thursday came within 15 feet of homes. Police said they are looking for a suspect, but declined to identify the person.
Joy-riding jailbirds: Eugene police arrested two Salem prison inmates Friday night after they escaped by stealing a car from a painting crew just outside the Oregon State Penitentiary. Rick Sketchley and Dustin Robertson were caught while driving the 1993 Subaru taken abut nine hours earlier. The Subaru was being repaired in Salem as part of a vocational training program for minimum security prisoners, corrections officials said. Sketchley and Robertson were not in the vocational program but were doing painting on the penitentiary grounds.
From Herald news services
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