Five Rands Down, One to Go

Mark Rand, 45, the fourth son of W.A. “Tony” Rand, patriarch of a fraudulent family enterprise that began in Arkansas and continued in Texas, was sentenced last week to more than seven years in prison and ordered to share in $99.7 million in restitution.

Mark Rand’s 88-month sentence was significantly lighter than those imposed on the two brothers who joined him in pleading guilty to oil and gas fraud in U.S. District Court in Dallas.

Greg Rand, 47, has started his 18-year sentence at the Oakdale Federal Correctional Complex in Louisiana, and Bill Rand, 41, is scheduled to report to federal prison to start his 14-year sentence on Oct. 28.

Mark, who was the first to plead guilty, will do more time than Tony, 70, who drew five and a half years for his role as chief financial officer of Aspen Exploration Inc. of Plano, Texas. Tony is incarcerated at the Federal Correctional Institution at Big Spring, Texas.

Mark is scheduled to report to federal prison on Oct. 19.

The eldest of Tony Rand’s five sons, 49-year-old Wayne Rand, is already serving a 20-year sentence in Texas state prison for felony theft related to a separate oil and gas scam.

That means only Jeff Rand, 48, has yet to be sentenced. In a different case, he pleaded guilty in July to fraud of between $2.5 million and $7 million in U.S. District Court in Fort Smith. No sentencing date has been set.