Three members of a Texas family get 18, 14 and five and a half years in a $99.7 million oil and gas fraud, including a Picasso forfeited
Three family members who were principals of Aspen Exploration, Inc., the managing partner of oil and gas well programs sold to investors throughout the U.S. and elsewhere, were sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis in July 2011. Gregory Rand got 18 years, William Nicholas Rand 14 years and William Anthony Rand five and a half years. The defendants were ordered to pay $99,707,758 in restitution and to forfeit property including an original Picasso.
- Year
- 2011
- Where
- United States
- Outcome
- Sentenced
- Reported loss
- $99.7 million
- Victims
- Not stated in the sources
- Schemes
- Oil and gas investment fraud
- Last reviewed
- 2026-10-28
The facts, as recorded
- Gregory Keith Rand, 46, was sentenced to 18 years, William Nicholas Rand, 41, to 14 years, and their father William Anthony Rand, 69, to five and a half years in federal prison.
- They were ordered to pay $99,707,758 in restitution and forfeit real estate, boats and personal watercraft, luxury vehicles, artwork including an original Picasso, furniture, antiques, musical instruments, jade, expensive jewelry and wine.
- Gregory, William Nicholas and Mark Rand were officers, directors and owners of Aspen, Anthony Rand was its financial manager, and Joel Petersen was a vice president and salesman. All five pleaded guilty; Petersen and Mark Rand were scheduled to be sentenced on August 31, 2011.
- Aspen sold interests in the Rancho Blanco #5, #6 and #7 programs. Funds invested were typically transferred almost immediately to Aspen's corporate bank accounts.
- No reports on the use and status of the joint venture funds were provided to investors, who had no ability to control, manage or audit their investments, and attempts to audit were thwarted.
- The defendants diverted investor funds for their own benefit, for the benefit of others and for drilling and operating costs related to prior wells.
- Investors were given inaccurate information touting earlier wells' performance, without disclosing vendor liens and investor litigation, and salesmen said investors could recoup their cash investment within three years, with production revenues lasting up to 20 years and multi-fold returns.
Why this case matters
It is the largest restitution figure on this page, and the U.S. Attorney’s recap is specific about how the investor was kept in the dark: the funds were moved almost immediately to the company’s own accounts, there were no reports, and an attempt to audit was thwarted. The returns the salesmen described were an investor getting the cash back within three years and multi-fold returns after that.
The caveat
The recap reproduced by the Dallas Observer was cut off by the site mid-sentence, so this page uses only the parts that were readable: the sentences, the property forfeited, the roles and the first paragraphs of the allegations in documents filed. The Observer’s own text puts the investors at more than 300 and the amount raised at about $100 million; that is the Observer’s wording, not the recap’s, and this page does not rely on it. The Observer’s article was published on July 28, 2011 and says the sentences were handed down “late yesterday”. The recap says the remaining defendants were to be sentenced in August 2011 and their sentences are not in this page’s sources.
Sources
- They Said They Were Selling Interests in Oil Wells. Instead, They Were Buying Picassos.. Dallas Observer, reproducing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas recap. Accessed 2026-10-28. Supports: Every fact above: the sentences, the restitution and forfeited property, the roles and pleas, the Rancho Blanco programs, the transfers to Aspen's accounts, the absence of reports, the diversion of funds, the undisclosed liens and litigation and the salesmen's claims.