Ex-FBI agent told woman she was on ‘secret probation’ to scam her out of $700K, feds say
A former FBI agent was sentenced to prison after officials said he scammed a woman out of hundreds of thousands of dollars by making her believe she was on “secret probation.”
William Roy Stone, Jr., 65, was sentenced to seven years in prison on wire fraud charges, according to a Feb. 8 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas.
In October 2015, Stone retired as an FBI agent. However, shortly after, he told a woman he was still an active agent and had been assigned to oversee her probation, according to an indictment filed in May 2021.
Stone is accused of convincing the woman that she was on secret probation for federal drug crimes. He told her as part of her probation terms, she needed to make payments to him, officials said.
Joseph Eventino DeLeon, 64, was also convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. His sentencing is March 5.
Officials say DeLeon helped Stone.
“He and Mr. DeLeon told the victim that the fictitious federal judge had appointed the two of them to administer the conditions of her six year ‘secret probation.’ They required her to text them written reports of her daily activities, and to compensate them for their supervisory services, as well as any expenses they incurred. Copies of the multiple six figure checks she wrote them were admitted into evidence at trial,” officials said.
The woman gave Stone more than $700,000 and DeLeon more than $50,000 over an 11-month period, officials said.
“They urged her to distance herself from her family, claiming her family members wanted to take her inheritance away from her, and persuaded her to transfer her inherited assets out of a trust and into an account under her own name. At one point, they claimed Judge Anderson would discharge (her) probation if (she) agreed to marry Mr. Stone,” officials said.
McClatchy News reached out to Stone’s attorney, who said he cannot comment on the case.
DeLeon’s attorney, Greg Westfall, told McClatchy News that DeLeon “idolized” Stone and truly believed he was still an active FBI agent at the time.
“Bill extorted money out of (the victim) and used Joe as an unwitting prop. It is a very strange case and I can see how the jury could get confused looking at a conspiracy charge. We have several grounds for appeal and we are hopeful that we succeed for Joe,” Westfall said in an email.
As part of her “probation” terms, the woman was told she could not tell anyone she was on probation or she would lose her children and go to jail, according to the indictment.
In order to keep up the scam, Stone and DeLeon would monitor her cell phone communications and conduct surveillance of her, officials said. They also told her they discussed her probation with a psychiatrist, and placed fake phone calls between Stone, the woman and the fake judge.
Stone was convicted in August of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity, and one count of false impersonation of a federal officer.
Pastor in charge of disabled man’s money stole thousands for his church, officials say
Men create fake country to steal over $9.5 million in COVID relief scheme, officials say
Group kidnapped FBI employee at gunpoint and took him hostage in South Dakota, feds say
