According to authorities, a part-time actor from Huntington Beach was given an eight-year sentence in federal prison on Monday for luring investors to businesses that promoted phony COVID-19 cures and treatments.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 57, claimed to have created a medication to prevent coronavirus infection and a cure that is pending a patent. In his words, the cure was “QC20,” and the treatment was “QP20.”
Through text messages, videos, and statements about this purported COVID-19 cure that were put on YouTube and Instagram, Middlebrook reached out to possible investors in California, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Colorado.
He claimed that Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a former point guard for the Los Angeles Lakers, was an officer and director of his business. Prosecutors said he also made a number of misleading claims, such as “enormous returns” on investments that were risk-free and 100% guaranteed, as well as miraculous results.
Middlebrook’s punishment was partly based on the U.S. district judge’s conclusion that he obstructed justice by lying during his testimony regarding his alleged friendship and financial activities with Johnson.
Additionally, he informed investors that a party in Dubai had made an offer to buy his businesses for $10 billion, which would guarantee the victim investors’ interests in the businesses. According to prosecutors, he further misrepresented that he had obtained money from seven investors, each of whom had already contributed between $750,000 and $1 million.
After delivering medicines that were supposed to treat the coronavirus infection to an undercover FBI agent who was masquerading as an investor, Middlebrook was taken into custody in March 2020.
A jury convicted Middlebrook of 11 charges of wire fraud after a three-day trial in May 2024.
Middlebrook’s IMDb profile lists 33 notable films and television series that he has starred in, starting with “Iron Man 2.” The HBO TV series “Ballers” was based on Middlebrook’s profession and life, according to the biography.
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