A federal grand jury in Phoenix returned a 24-count indictment on Oct. 23, 2018 for violations of the federal mail fraud statute, and for conspiracy to violate the mail and wire fraud.
The indictment alleges that Brandon Trevor Ball, 46, of Phoenix, Trevor Wesley Gabler, 28, of Phoenix, Gordon Lynn Hardy, 55, of Chandler, Jackie Nikiel Whitley, 37, of Phoenix, and Brian Lee Gibson, 36, of Tempe, worked together in a telemarketing operation to defraud elderly consumers of over $1 million.
According to the indictment, when speaking via telephone with the victims, the defendants and their employees used false names and misrepresented the nature of a purported investment opportunity and the location of the business. All defendants were arrested and arraigned yesterday. Defendants Gabler, Ball, Hardy and Gibson have been temporarily detained pending a detention hearing.
A conviction for mail fraud in which the defendants target elderly victims through telemarketing carries an enhanced maximum penalty of 30 years, a $250,000 fine (or twice the value of the loss), or both imprisonment and a fine.