A deposition from the late Walter Collins will not be allowed in the federal trial of Ferrum Capital co-founders Josh Allen and Michael Cox after a judge’s decision Monday morning before jury selection began.
Anthony Box, representing Allen, asked U.S. District Judge Fred Biery to use a deposition Collins gave last year. Collins owned Austin-based Collins Asset Group, which took money from Ferrum Capital to buy defaulted loans. If the loans could be recovered, the people who gave money to Ferrum would make money.
However, attorneys for Ferrum investors argued in lawsuits the arrangement was a defective business deal and a Ponzi scheme.
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Feds update charges against Willy in Lubbock-based Ferrum Capital case, could take her assets
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Josh Allen may lose companies as one impact from receivers working on Walk-On’s, Ferrum cases
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November 7, 2025
October 8, 2025
Ferrum criminal trial – Allen, Cox and Willy – pushed back until next year
September 5, 2025
Ferrum detour to Delaware ends; what that means for victims in Lubbock, San Antonio
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‘Finally … in shackles’ – Ferrum victims ‘ecstatic’ about criminal charges against Allen and Cox
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Biery asked how prosecutors would be able to cross-examine Collins who passed away recently, and Joseph Blackwell, assistant United States attorney, agreed that was a concern.
The transcript from the Collins deposition would not be allowed, Biery said.
Lawyers also discussed how the jury would hear about Brooklynn Chandler Willy, Ferrum’s San Antonio affiliate, who pleaded guilty earlier this year.
Box and Michael Gross, Cox’s attorney said they don’t want her plea mentioned during trial. Blackwell said it was doubtful she’d testify.
The rest of the morning was spent selecting a jury.
Biery read parts of the indictment but then added the government must prove what’s in the indictment is true, likening it to a driver being handed a ticket for speeding.
“That doesn’t make you guilty. You can fight it. This is just a piece of paper; it is not evidence,” he told potential jurors.
After Biery and the three attorneys asked the jury pool questions to determine if they would have a bias, the judge dismissed most of the jury pool, keeping 15. The judge and attorneys then huddled to the side of the judge’s bench to quietly ask each of the 15 more questions about their fitness to serve.
The afternoon session was expected to finish jury selection and start opening arguments.
Check back later in the day for an update to this story as LubbockLights.com Editor Terry Greenberg reports from the federal courtroom in San Antonio.
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