A San Antonio federal jury convicted two Lubbock businessmen of four criminal charges in connection with an investment scheme that involved San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy.
San Antonio Express-News file photo
One-time San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 14 after she entered into a guilty plea rather than stand trial with two Lubbock businessmen. She is shown in 2023 on her television program, which was posted to YouTube.
YouTube screengrab
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered Lubbock businessmen Joshua Allen and Michael Cox taken into custody after they were convicted by a San Antonio jury Tuesday.
Josie Norris/San Antonio Express-News
San Antonio investment adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy’s firm, Texas Financial Advisory, operated from a Stone Oak office before her arrest. The firm closed down after her arrest.
Patrick Danner/San Antonio Express-News
A federal jury has convicted the two men charged alongside former San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy in a multimillion-dollar investment fraud scheme.
Jurors in San Antonio federal court found Lubbock businessmen Joshua Allen and Michael Cox guilty on all four criminal charges after a seven-day trial and about 2½ hours of deliberations.
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They were convicted on Tuesday of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and securities fraud.
The four convictions carry a combined maximum of 75 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines and other factors will determine the sentences Allen and Cox ultimately face.
READ MORE: Trial begins for former co-defendants of San Antonio investment adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy
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Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Blackwell urged U.S. District Judge Fred Biery to take Allen and Cox into custody, describing them as men of significant means who face lengthy prison sentences. He also accused Allen of trying to obstruct justice during the trial by presenting one victim with a document bearing a forged signature. Blackwell said the effort failed when the victim said she had never seen the document before.
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Biery agreed, ordering federal marshals to take both men into custody rather than release them on bond, as their attorneys requested, pending sentencing on Dec. 10.
After the verdict, the judge had both defendants turn around to address their supporters in the courtroom.
“I’m so sorry for putting y’all through this,” Allen said.
“I believe that my God is still on the throne and he is still good,” Cox said.
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Blackwell turned the focus to the victims.
“I’m glad justice was done for the victims,” Blackwell said outside the courtroom. “We presented about 30, but there are hundreds of people who had their lives destroyed by these schemes. They’re what matters.”
Ponzi scheme
The case grew out of investments that Willy recommended to clients through Lubbock-based Ferrum Capital LLC.
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Willy, who promoted her financial advisory business on radio, television and online, pitched Ferrum investments to clients as an alternative to traditional investments. Ferrum used investor money to provide funding to Austin-based Collins Asset Group LLC to purchase distressed accounts receivable, also known as bad debt.
Investors received promissory notes that generally promised returns of 8% paid quarterly or 10% annually, with their principal to be returned when the four-year notes matured. Willy assured clients that the investments were safe and secured, according to lawsuits filed by investors.
Allen and Cox jointly owned and controlled Ferrum Capital.
Prosecutors alleged Allen and Cox raised millions of dollars through Ferrum Capital by telling investors their money would be used to finance purchases of distressed debt by Collins. But as the operation ran into trouble, prosecutors said, they turned it into a Ponzi scheme, using money from new investors to pay earlier investors — and to benefit Allen, Cox and Willy.
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RELATED: Ex-San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy pleads guilty in Ponzi scheme
In his closing argument Tuesday, Blackwell said Allen and Cox had to keep attracting new investors — and concealing how their money was actually being used — to prevent the operation from falling apart.
“Was there a scheme to defraud? Was there an agreement to defraud? Absolutely,” Blackwell told jurors.
“Why do they need to lie? They needed to lie because they needed to keep investor funds coming in. Otherwise the whole scheme collapses and they stop making money,” he said.
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Blackwell added Willy played a significant role because Allen and Cox needed her “to keep funding the money machine.” She was not called to testify at the trial.
Signs that the investments were unraveling emerged in 2023, when some investors stopped receiving interest payments and others said Ferrum failed to repay notes as they matured.
Defense blames Collins
Allen’s lawyer, Anthony Box, blamed Collins Asset Group for the investors’ losses, saying the company stopped returning money and eventually went out of business. “The majority of the money is God knows where,” Box told jurors. “Hopefully, the government is looking into it.”
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Box questioned why the government had focused on Allen rather than Collins. “Why are we here? Where is the investigation of Collins Asset Group?” he asked. “Who took the loss? The people from Lubbock. The people from San Antonio.”
Box added that Allen went to the FBI to urge agents to investigate Collins.
Cox’s attorney, Michael Gross, argued his client had no way of knowing Collins would later fail and pointed to character witnesses who described Cox as honest, truthful and law-abiding.
READ MORE: Fraud claims mount against San Antonio investment adviser Brooklynn Willy, her firm and others
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“It’s our position that there’s no willful intent to defraud,” Gross said. “There’s no knowing defrauding and there’s no intentional defrauding by Michael Cox.”
Gross urged jurors to acquit Cox on all counts, saying it would be unfair to hold him responsible for what happened at Collins.
Neither Allen nor Cox testified in his own defense.
Gross described Cox as a man of faith. After the verdict, Biery returned to that characterization and pulled out a Bible.
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“Based on the jury’s verdict, do you know what the Ninth Commandment is? Number nine?” Biery asked Cox, who remained silent. “Shall not bear false witness.”
From lawsuits to guilty plea
The San Antonio Express-News first reported in October 2023 on mounting lawsuits by Willy’s clients alleging fraud, violations of state securities laws and breaches of fiduciary duty. The FBI and IRS launched a criminal investigation the following month.
Willy was arrested in December 2024, and her firm, Texas Financial Advisory, subsequently shut down. The firm, which had offices in Stone Oak, Boerne, New Braunfels, Corpus Christi and Victoria, reported managing nearly $118 million for about 620 clients before it closed.
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A federal grand jury indicted Allen, Cox and Willy together in July 2025 on charges stemming from the Ferrum investments. According to the indictment, hundreds of people invested about $67 million in Ferrum Capital. Allen, Cox and Willy personally received $9.1 million in total, Blackwell told jurors.
Willy subsequently struck a plea agreement with prosecutors. In March, she pleaded guilty to 10 federal charges, including six counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 14.