B.J. Gallison sentenced to 18 years in prison

Harold Bailey (B.J.) Gallison II today (March 18) was sentenced to 18 years in prison — a very long sentence for a stock-market swindler, but too short a sentence in his many victims' eyes.

Gallison was sentenced in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, for two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit international money laundering in connection with an international pump 'n dump stock-market scam. Gallison, of Valley Center, was also ordered to forfeit more than $1.7 million.

In December, Gallison had admitted to "pumping," or artificially inflating the price and trading volume of shares of Warrior Girl Corp. and Everock, Inc. After running the stocks up, Gallison and several other international stock swindlers "dumped" the shares through American and overseas bank accounts. Gallison and his cohorts pulled off the caper through an offshore brokerage and money-laundering operation, according to the U.S. Attorney's office in Eastern Virginia.

Through the offshore brokerage, Gallison created nominee accounts in the names of shell companies, thus concealing the ownership of the securities.

No San Diegan who knows Gallison will be surprised. He had a majority ownership in a fast-buck brokerage named La Jolla Capital, later named Pacific Cortez Securities. It dealt largely in penny stocks. Gallison went to prison for his role in one of the stocks that the brokerage pushed (Natural Born Carvers). As soon as he got out, he went right back into the market manipulation business through a Costa Rica operation. A court-appointed monitor confirmed that the brokerage's books were cooked. When it shut down, investors got 2.5 cents on the dollar.