AUSTIN, Texas — John Stuart Robison, 63, of Austin, was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for four counts of wire fraud and money laundering, U.S. Attorney Justin R. Simmons for the Western District of Texas announced. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman ordered Robison to pay $1 million in restitution.
According to court documents, Robison convinced an investor to pay $1 million into a business bank account controlled solely by Robison. He represented that the money would go to benefit the University of Austin and was to be kept in an escrow account unless and until he raised an additional $1 million. As part of the scheme, Robison lied to the investor about land he controlled or had under option, presented false option contracts for property, and claimed that all money spent on the project came from his personal accounts, the Justice Department said.
One day after the money was wired into the business account, Robison fraudulently transferred $250,000 into another of his bank accounts, and that money was used to benefit Robison rather than the University of Austin. Within a few months of receiving the wired funds, Robison had essentially spent the entire $1 million, according to court documents cited by the department.
Robison was indicted on November 18, 2025, for one count of wire fraud and three counts of engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property, and was arrested three days later. In July 2026, a federal jury convicted him on all four counts, the department's earlier trial release said.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Western District of Texas, jury-verdict release, July 2026
The FBI and the Austin Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan Guess and Britni Verdeja prosecuted it, the Justice Department said.