Judge frees con man — with restrictions

A federal judge has ordered the release of convicted con man Wayne Reed Ogden, but with a long list of restrictions.

In a decision issued Friday, U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart found that while Ogden has a history of financial crimes, he has no record of violence. "The nature of the charged offense, while serious, is a white-collar crime," Stewart wrote. "The defendant has no history of violence."

Federal prosecutors had requested to keep Ogden in federal custody, arguing that Ogden was a financial threat to the community.

Ogden stands charged with several counts of mail fraud and wire fraud stemming from an investment scheme he allegedly devised while on parole for a previous financial scam. Prosecutors say Ogden was using money from recent investors to pay some $7 million in restitution to his old investment victims.

In 1998, Ogden was convicted in state court of bilking 500 investors, mostly friends and neighbors, in an estimated $7 million Ponzi scheme. He was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison.

While on parole from prison, beginning in November 2000, Ogden was ordered not to handle other people's money. During a federal hearing in December, a state parole officer testified that Ogden provided the Utah Department of Adult Probation and Parole with documentation that he had been hired by a construction company and he asked permission to work as a construction foreman on a project in Colorado. Ogden was given several travel permits to Colorado for his job.

It was later discovered that Ogden's employment papers were bogus. The FBI discovered that Ogden and his brother were involved in a credit counseling company, where Ogden again began soliciting investors to purchase property in Colorado. Ogden reportedly promised 50- to 100-percent returns on millions of investor money.

Frustrated investors also sued Ogden for $9 million.

"The defendant poses an economic, not physical danger to the community," Stewart stated.

Ogden has been ordered to live with his parents in Koosharem, located in central Utah. He may not leave Koosharem without prior permission from federal pretrial services and will have to wear a GPS ankle monitor. Ogden is forbidden from accessing a computer or the Internet and is not allowed to make long-distance calls or access a cell phone. He was also ordered not to obtain a passport.

While Ogden may be on federal release, he is still also considered on parole with the state. According to the Utah Department of Corrections, Ogden will also answer to a state parole officer.

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