Feds sentence 'White-Collar Socipath' to four years for financial crimes

Yahoo

28-03-2025

TULSA, Okla. – A former Grand Lake man who used his family members' stolen identities to swindle over $3 million from banks and other financial institutions saw his probation suspended and was sentenced to four years in federal prison
Michael Chase Morris, also known as Michael Jeffrey Morris, 63, appeared in U.S. Federal Court in Tulsa on Wednesday for a sentencing hearing to revoke his supervised release from prison for a 2016 conviction.
It's his second revocation for financial crimes since 2023. Morris has five fraud-related convictions and seven prior revocations for fraudulent behavior since 1988.
Federal prosecutors asked Eagan to sentence Morris to 56 months.
Mr. Morris's criminal history and characteristics warrant the stiffest permissible sentence under the law to afford adequate deterrence to criminal conduct and protect the public from further crimes.
Michael Morris, Sentencing Memorandum
Earlier this month, Morris stipulated to concealing a checking account and a PayPal account. Federal prosecutors dropped the three other violations.
According to court documents, Morris violated his probation 'by lying, providing false information, and concealing truthful information from his probation officer in his efforts to thwart her efforts to provide meaningful supervision.'
Morris 'wasted no time engaging in additional transactions prohibited by his terms of release, and then willfully tried to hide his tracks when confronted by his supervising probation officer,' the documents state.
In June 2016, Morris was sentenced to six and a half years for financial wrongdoing and five years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,641,915.71 in restitution. It was during this sentencing hearing that Morris was called a 'white collar sociopath' by a federal prosecutor.
Testimony during his 2016 federal sentencing suggested Morris was not upfront about a charity he set up in his deceased 16-year-old son's name to raise money for sudden cardiac arrest.
Click here to read a timeline of Morris' financial convictions.
On Wednesday, Judge Claire V. Eagan followed up with a four-year prison sentence with five years of supervised release.
Eagan also ordered Morris to adhere to computer restrictions and obtain a mental health evaluation, according to court records filed on Wednesday.
Court records filed by Morris show he has previously been diagnosed with several mental health issues, including Impulse Control Disorder, Atypical Anxiety Disorder, Narcissistic Personality Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.
'The Court would be hard-pressed to find a similarly situated defendant who has demonstrated a more recidivistic pattern and lifestyle of fraudulent behavior coupled with a clear unwillingness to comply with the Court's orders,' court documents show.
Sources close to the investigation said Morris may face new indictments.
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