Final Defendant in Wind Fraud Case Pleads Guilty

The last of five defendants charged with defrauding investors of more than $4 million by promoting non-existent wind farm projects in Wyoming and South Dakota has pleaded guilty to federal felony charges.

Robert Arthur Reed, of Salt Lake City, pleaded guilty in Casper on Tuesday to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and conspiracy to launder money. Four other co-defendants have entered earlier guilty pleas to various charges. Prosecutors charged that Reed and the others used aliases as well as the company names of Mountain State Power Group, Mountain State Power and Sovereign Energy Partners. The indictment alleges they hired phone solicitors to make cold calls to investors, urging them to invest in wind farms they claimed were being constructed jointly by private investors and the U.S. government.