Two Carson men convicted of wire fraud

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Two Carson City men have been convicted of seven federal counts of wire fraud, according to U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott.

Mark Gray Coleman, 47, and Michael Staggs, 61, were convicted by a federal jury in Sacramento on July 3.

Coleman and Staggs solicited investors, including an FBI agent posing as an interested client, to invest $10 million in a tradition program, according to Scott.

The two men claimed to have access to secret humanitarian aid programs sponsored by the government which could yield profits as high as 50 percent every 10 days.

Staggs and Coleman promised their potential investors that there would be no risk to principal, claiming that these profits could be generated without the investors' money ever having to leave the bank.

The sales occurred between August 2000 and February 2001.

According to Scott, evidence presented at trial showed Staggs and Coleman had previously defrauded investors and had been warned by the FBI that the programs were fraudulent.

In returning guilty verdicts on all seven wire fraud counts, the jury found that the investment programs were fraudulent and that Staggs and Coleman knew they were fraudulent at the time they were promoting them.

U.S. District Court Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. remanded both Staggs and Coleman into the custody of the U.S. Marshal immediately following trial and set their sentencing date for Sept. 15.

Co-defendants Joseph Lloyd Norris, 54, of Carson City and Chris M. Evans, an attorney from Annandale, Va., each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud on the first day of trial, June 10. Sentencing for Norris and Evans has been set before Judge Damrell for Aug. 25.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James P. Arguelles, and was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.