May 28, 2021- 10:00 p.m.
A former FBI agent fleeced a North Texas woman out of more than $800,000 after convincing her that she was on “secret probation” for drug crimes, federal authorities allege.
William Roy Stone Jr., 62, of Colleyville was indicted this week on seven counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of false impersonation of a federal officer, one count of making false statements to law enforcement and one count of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from unlawful activity.
Stone made an initial court appearance Friday, entering a plea of not guilty to all 11 counts, and was allowed to remain free until trial.
His attorney, Gregg Gallian, said in a statement that Stone denied the charges against him and “looks forward to exposing the truth of these misguided allegations in the courtroom.”
According to the indictment, Stone told a Granbury woman in November 2015 that she had been placed on “secret probation” by a fictitious Judge Anderson in Austin and that Stone and a second person had been assigned to supervise and “mentor” her. The indictment does not name the victim or the co-conspirator, and it is not clear how Stone came into contact with the victim.
The terms of the woman’s made-up probation included giving Stone a list of her assets, paying for his expenses while he supervised her and keeping the probation a secret from everyone else, authorities said.
Authorities allege that Stone exerted control over the woman by telling her to distance herself from relatives who only wanted an inheritance she had received from her grandmother, purporting to be able to monitor her cellphone activity and setting up bogus phone calls with her and someone pretending to be the judge. He also proposed to her, the indictment says, telling her he could ask for her probation to be ended after they married.
Stone coerced the woman into giving him more than $800,000 over a period of nearly four years, authorities said. According to the indictment, he used some of that money to buy a 2017 Toyota pickup, a 2016 Mercedes sedan and a four-bedroom home in Colleyville.
He later lied to an FBI agent about the amount of money the woman gave him and under what circumstances, as well as a number of other aspects of the case, the indictment says.
If convicted of all charges, Stone faces a prison sentence of up to 178 years.
Tarrant County court records show that, as part of a settlement in a protracted divorce case, Stone agreed in March 2016 to pay his ex-wife a lump sum of $230,000 in exchange for her relinquishing any claim to his federal retirement benefits.
Stone was an Irving police officer before joining the FBI, court records indicate.
Last month, he independently published a crime thriller under the name Liam Stone. Family Above All tells the story of an undercover FBI agent, Will Rockton, whose investigation “leads to what could be the biggest case of his career.”
In a dedication to his children, Stone apologizes for missing much of their lives because of his career and asks for their forgiveness.
