Florida Businessman Pleads Guilty in Defrauding of Costa Mesa Firm
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LOS ANGELES — A businessman who fled to Singapore after being accused of defrauding a Costa Mesa escrow company out of $1.8 million has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud charges, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Thursday.
James Leroy Fletcher, 41, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., spent several weeks in a Singapore jail before federal marshals arrived to escort him back to Los Angeles in April.
Assistant U.S. Atty. Anita Dymant said Fletcher pleaded guilty Tuesday to three counts of wire fraud. He is to be sentenced Aug. 3 by U.S. District Judge Harry Hupp and faces a maximum of 15 years in prison and a $3,000 fine, Dymant said.
A grand jury indictment charged Fletcher and Marjorie G. Knox of Redondo Beach with defrauding Western Mutual Escrow Corp. out of nearly $2 million.
In 1983, Knox was working as an escrow officer at the company. Fletcher was charged with setting up a phony investment program and collecting money through escrow accounts allegedly set up by Knox, who is scheduled for trial June 30.
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