A Broward County lawyer facing investment fraud charges in Florida has pleaded guilty to fleeing prosecution after he was caught in Mexico after a four-year search.
Miami federal prosecutors say in a Tuesday release that 71-year-old Michael Ralph Casey has been a fugitive for four years. It says he drove to the border city of Laredo, Texas, in 2014 despite only having court permission to visit his mother in North Carolina while the case was pending.
Prosecutors say he was involved in a $20 million investment scheme involving commodities that defrauded about 700 people. Most of the others involved in the fraud scheme pleaded guilty and were sent to prison.
The trial for Casey in the investment case is set for Oct. 29.
The conviction for failure to appear in court carries a maximum 10-year prison sentence.
