Wed 2/12/2025
A Hill County man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for defrauding investors with a get-rich-quick oil drilling scam, authorities said.
Jefferson K. Villines III, 49, defrauded seven investors out of a combined $154,000 by promising "quick returns" through fraudulent oil and gas projects, according to the Kendall County District Attorney's Office. Villines was convicted on charges of fraudulent securities conduct, money laundering and theft. The district attorney's office described Villines as a former Kendall County resident; jail records list his address as New Braunfels.
Villines was also ordered to pay $232,000 in restitution to his victims, according to the district attorney's office.
Two of the investors were Kendall County residents who lost their life savings to his scheme.
Villines spent the investors' money on his mortgage, car payments and "consumer goods," according to authorities.
"Bank records showed that the majority of the funds were funneled into accounts controlled by Villines and did not go toward the promised oil and gas operations," the district attorney's office said.
An investigation by the the Texas State Securities Board found that Villines started the scam in 2017, making unsolicited calls to pitch two oil and gas ventures — Latham #1 Joint Venture and the Bend Arch Project. He promised quick returns on investments through "false and exaggerated claims," according to the district attorney's office.
The Latham #1 Joint Venture supposedly reworked a well with the help of Tower Resources Inc., a Houston-based oil and gas production company. That company later "denied any involvement in the project," according to the district attorney's office. Villines promised "profitable returns within months," but the project was never funded, according to the district attorney's office.
Villines told investors the Bend Arch Project would involved completing the drilling of oil and gas wells in Throckmorton County, according to the district attorney's office. The wells were "not operational or abandoned," and drilling operations never happened, according to the district attorney's office.
The company Villines used to defraud investors, JKV Management Consulting LLC, was operating out of an address in Boerne, authorities said. His LinkedIn profile states he's been the president and CEO of the company since 2006.
"Mr. Villines took advantage of trusting individuals, including elderly victims, and used their hard-earned money for his own personal gain," the district attorney's office said. "This sentence reflects the seriousness of his crime and serves as justice for the victims who have suffered significant financial harm."
Villines had received cease-and-desist orders from authorities in Pennsylvania in 2012 and Georgia in 2013 for "offering unregistered securities," according to the district attorney's office.
Professor Elam 
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