A Mont Belvieu man, Carl Channing Spence, 41, has been sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for orchestrating a $2.1 million Ponzi-style investment scheme that defrauded 19 victims, including friends and community members.
Spence pleaded guilty on January 30 and was ordered by U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal to serve 120 months, followed by three years of supervised release. The court heard from victims detailing the devastating financial and personal impact of Spence’s actions, with Judge Rosenthal noting the “unusually predatory nature” of his scheme, which targeted vulnerable individuals.
From January 2022 through August 2023, Spence operated “AEI Financial” from his home, promising 10 to 12 percent returns on “meme stocks.” Instead, he diverted funds for personal use and to make purported returns to earlier investors, creating fraudulent account statements to encourage reinvestment. He commingled investor funds, losing much of the money through unsuccessful trades. The FBI and Mont Belvieu Police Department conducted the investigation.