(Stillwater) — A Colorado man has been ordered to stand trial in Payne County District Court on charges of defrauding a Stillwater man of $570,000 — including $425,000 that was donated by OSU benefactor Boone Pickens to a foundation for children with special needs.
Bradley James Stroup, who reportedly operated Stroup Financial Network LLC in Broomfield, Colo., waived his right to a preliminary hearing on the Payne County charges on Monday.
Stroup, 45, who was arrested on a Payne County warrant last October in Broomfield where he resides, remains free on $100,000 bond pending his trial court arraignment in Payne County District Court on May 15 before District Judge Donald Worthington.
Stroup could receive as much as a 30-year prison term and a $15,000 fine if convicted on three counts of obtaining money by false pretense from Jimmy Gonzales in alleged investment scams in 2005 and 2006, according to the charges filed by Payne County District Attorney Rob Hudson.
Victimized in the scam was the Mya Gonzales Foundation, which was started by Jimmy Gonzales and his wife, Mary Gonzales.
It is named after their daughter, Mya, who has Down syndrome and attends the Rise School of Stillwater, which opened in 2007 with the help of funds from the foundation.
The Rise School, which is part of the OSU College of Human Environmental Sciences, places children with developmental disabilities in the same classroom with typically developing children.
Stroup was charged last September after what Hudson termed “a very thorough investigation” by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which interviewed witnesses in Colorado, Minnesota and Texas, court records show.
Stroup and Gonzales became acquainted 20 years ago when they were both coaching at the University of Wisconsin, according to an affidavit.
Stroup is accused of having obtained $95,000 in 2005 and $50,000 in 2006 of Gonzales’ money after representing to Gonzales “that he was ‘working a major $100,000,000 deal’ with the Virginia Teachers Association and needed Jimmy Gonzales to invest monies, when, in fact, this was a misrepresentation and the defendant kept the monies for his own use and benefit,” two of the counts allege.
Stroup is accused of having obtained $425,000 belonging to the Mya Gonzales Foundation in 2006 after Stroup “had a land deal that would make money and needed Jimmy Gonzales to invest monies owned by the Mya Gonzales Foundation, when, in fact, this was a misrepresentation and the defendant kept the monies for his own use and benefit,” the third count alleges.
An affidavit states that Gonzales said that he and his wife “decided to obtain a $425,000 donation from (Texas oilman and OSU donor) Boone Pickens to start a ‘Rise’ program to help special children. Gonzales had Pickens’ office hold the money with their accountant.”
When Stroup told Gonzales that he needed money to invest in a land deal, “Gonzales told Stroup that he would send him the $425,000 that he had obtained from Pickens,” the affidavit alleged.
