The Freethinker
WILLIAM Neil “Doc” Gallagher, above, has been handed three life sentences for bilking elderly listeners out of millions of dollars.
The sentencing came after more than a dozen senior victims testified during a three-hour court hearing about losing anywhere from $50,000 to $600,000 invested in the Gallagher Financial Group.
Some said they had to sell their homes, borrow money from their children or take part-time jobs to supplement their Social Security benefits.
Gallagher also got a 30-year prison sentence from state District Judge Elizabeth Beach for his August guilty pleas. The sentences are to be served concurrently.
Said Lori Varnell, chief of the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Elder Financial Fraud team:
‘Doc’ Gallagher is one of the worst offenders I have seen.
Gallagher, 80, and his Gallagher Financial Group advertised on Christian radio with the tagline, “See you in church on Sunday.” He promoted his investment business in books, such as Jesus Christ, Money Master, and on Christian radio broadcasts.
Gallagher has been behind bars since his March 2019 arrest on similar charges filed in Dallas County. In 2020, he pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. He was indicted in Tarrant County in August 2019.
Varnell said:
He ruthlessly stole from his clients who trusted him for almost a decade. He amassed $32 million in loss to all of his clients and exploited many elder individuals. He worked his way around churches preying on people whobelieved he was a Christian.
I’d love a cup of coffee
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