A former FBI agent from Dallas was found guilty Thursday in a bizarre scheme to con a one-time meth addict out of more than $700,000.
William Stone retired from the bureau in 2015, but prosecutors say he continued posing as an active agent, convincing a drug addict from Granbury that she was on "secret probation" and needed to pay him money to keep her kids and stay out of prison.
The woman had received a $3 million inheritance from her grandmother’s estate.
Stone saw dollar signs and took advantage, prosecutors said.
The woman’s grandmother died in Nov. 2015 -- the month after Stone retired.
"Secret probation" isn't a real thing.
But the woman testified she believed it and kept it secret from everyone for years.
She paid Stone $5,000 each for multiple trips to Austin to speak with “Judge Anderson” about her case.
Judge Anderson didn’t exist, and Stone never really travelled anywhere. Prosecutors proved it with toll-tag records that showed he was really in North Texas.
Stone had the woman fill out daily 3X5 index cards with everyone she talked to and everything she did. Stone also accessed her cell phone daily without her permission, prosecutors said. She thought her phone was bugged.
“He was a master manipulator,” prosecutors told the jury.
Stone, a Marine veteran, former Irving police officer and the son of a former Longview police chief, also made up other characters, including an FBI analyst named Avery who the woman believed was tracking her every move.
Over a year, she paid Stone more and more. He bought a house in Colleyville, remodeled the kitchen, and even purchased a new Mercedes.
The trial in U.S. District Court in Dallas lasted nearly three weeks and included evidence of secretly-recorded conversations the woman made with both men after contacting Texas Rangers. The Inspector General’s office of the U.S. Justice Department eventually took over the investigation.
Stone appeared in court with his hair neatly cut, wearing a dark business suit, starched shirt and tie.
Stone never tesitified himself.
But his lawyer claimed Stone and the victim were romantically involved – even briefly engaged -- and the money was a gift. The woman testified they did, in fact, have an intimate relationship.
But the jury didn't buy that defense, convicting Stone of fraud along with co-defendant, Joseph Deleon of Fort Worth, who helped with the scheme.
Deleon is a restaurant owner who befriends police officers and sometimes served as a volunteer translator for the Fort Worth police department, his lawyers said.
Deleon’s lawyers, Greg Westfall and Frank Sellers, argued Deleon was also a victim and believed Stone’s story about the secret probation was real. They also said Deleon started cooperating with the investigation immediately and made his own secret recordings of conversations with Stone.
“Bill was Joe’s puppet master,” Sellers told the jury in his closing statement.
But prosecutors said Deleon also participated in Stone's lies, received money in the scheme and bought a new truck, which he lied to investigators about.
Stone’s attorney, Gregg Gallian, admitted Stone made up the story about secret probation but claimed it wasn’t fraud because Stone was just trying to help her stay off drugs and improve her life.
“He was a bad guy. He lied. You probably hate him,” Gallian told the jury in closing arguments. “But we need to look at the facts … He didn’t do it with the intent to defraud her.”
The victim testified she is now off drugs and is working as a hairdresser in Granbury.
Sentencing for Stone and Deleon will come later.
Judge Ada Brown presided over the trial. It was prosecuted by Marcus Busch, Donna Max and Jenna Rudoff.
Gallian, the defense lawyer, told jurors it was the “weirdest” case he’s ever worked on.
“Bill is a liar,” Gallian said. “But Bill is not a criminal. He wanted to help (her).”
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