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by Mike Caswell

Phillip Offill, a former Texas lawyer with many Canadian connections, has received six years in prison for a $1.3-million scheme on the OTC Markets. (All figures are in U.S. dollars.) Prosecutors in Virginia said that he was part of a "wholly fraudulent" operation that included obtaining shares through forgery and deception. He and an associate inflicted losses on at least 1,000 investors, the government claimed.

Mr. Offill, 64, received his sentence in an appearance on Wednesday, July 12, before a federal judge in Virginia. In addition to the six years in jail, the judge ordered Mr. Offill to pay $1.3-million in restitution. Mr. Offill must also serve five years of supervised release.

The decision is mostly a victory for prosecutors, who had asked the judge to impose an eight-year jail term on Mr. Offill. They described his scheme as particularly deserving of prison, given that it came after he had spent time in jail for a prior fraud. In that prior scheme, he helped insiders of nine companies obtain illegally issued stock, which they then used in pump-and-dumps.

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