OHIO
A husband and wife were sentenced to prison Tuesday for their roles in a fraud scheme related to the company Imperial Integrative Health Research and Development LLC and its product, OXYwater, officials said.
U.S. District Judge Gregory L. Frost sentenced Preston J. Harrison, 43, and Lovena Harrison, 42.
Between August 2010 and spring 2013, officials said Thomas Jackson and Preston Harrison misappropriated approximately $2 million of the investors’ funds.
Preston Harrison is a former University of Ohio football player.
The defendants’ scheme caused investors to suffer substantial losses when the corporation was forced to declare bankruptcy with no assets. As a result of the defendants’ conduct, investors lost approximately $9 million, according to officials.
Court evidence indicated that Jackson and Preston Harrison operated Imperial, based in Westerville, Ohio, and developed OXYwater, a beverage that promoters claimed was an all-natural, vitamin-enhanced sports drink that contained added oxygen for improved physical performance.
The defendants, of Lewis Center, Ohio, engaged in a scheme to deceive the investors in Imperial about Imperial and OXYwater’s structure, composition, finances, sales and profits in order to make the company appear to be a lucrative and profitable financial investment, officials said.
The defendants spent the money for their own personal use, including the purchase of jewelry, a Cadillac Escalade, a BMW vehicle, weapons, clothing, home improvements and a swimming pool, authorities said.
Jackson and Preston Harrison produced and sent false and fraudulent documents intended to deceive investors in order to obtain additional investments in Imperial, the evidence indicated.
In 2011, Preston Harrison misappropriated approximately $1.1 million from Imperial, which he and Lovena Harrison diverted into an account in the name of a daycare business and used for personal expenses.
The Harrisons did not report the money as income on their 2011 income tax return, officials said.
Preston Harrison was sentenced to serve six years and 11 months in prison.
He was ordered to pay $375,985 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service and $8,840,706 to victims of the fraud, and to forfeit $1.1 million, including two vehicles, eight weapons, cash and the contents of a bank account.
Lovena Harrison, Preston Harrison’s wife, was sentenced to serve one year and one day in prison. She was also ordered to pay $375,985 in restitution to the IRS.
“The sentences imposed today reflect the department’s commitment to investigating and vigorously prosecuting individuals who defraud investors, misappropriate funds to finance lavish lifestyles and file false tax returns to conceal their ill-gotten gains,” said Assistant Attorney General Caroline Ciraolo. “Like the Harrisons, those who engage in such conduct will pay a heavy price.”
The couple went to trial in March and were convicted of multiple crimes.
Preston Harrison’s business partner, Jackson, 40, of Powell, Ohio, was also convicted at trial for his role in the scheme and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 1.
Preston Harrison was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and filing a false income tax return, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and 12 counts of money laundering.
Lovena Harrison was convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States and filing a false income tax return, and structuring financial transactions to evade currency reporting requirements.
Jackson was convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, eight counts of wire fraud and 12 counts of money laundering.