Wing clipped in Tyler

Tyler solo Michael J. Wing will soon have plenty of time to think about how he could have put his law degree to better use after U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis sentenced him to 10 years in federal prison for wire fraud on Aug. 30. Wing pleaded guilty last year after he was indicted for luring potential investors by representing that their money would be used to purchase short-term securities from Fortune 500 companies. Wing specifically represented that he was an international mergers and acquisition lawyer who had been retained by a Fortune 500 company, that the company was in the final stages of closing a major merger or acquisition, and that the company needed short-term financing to complete the acquisition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas. Prosecutors alleged that Wing took that money and spent it, using some of it to pay off other investors. As part as his sentence, Wing was ordered to pay $9.1 million in restitution. Wing might want to consider opening a lemonade stand in 2017 to help pay the restitution because the State Bar of Texas Web site currently lists his law license as suspended.

-- John Council