A federal judge in Texas stepped in this week and stopped the plea deal that U.S. prosecutors made with the man known as the “Frack Master.”
Reports indicate it took only a few minutes for the judge to reject the plea agreement with Christoper A. Faulkner who was accused of taking more than $71 million from oi land gas investors.
Faulkner had pleaded guilty last summer to securities fraud, engaging in illegal monetary transactions and tax evasion. The 41 year old businessman admitted he not only bilked investors out of millions but concealed it from the Internal Revenue Service.
Under the agreement, he was to get a 12-year prison sentence. Faulkner is a former Bedford tech entrepreneur who moved into the oil and gas business and became a vocal advocate of fracking.