{Louisville, Kentucky}...Senior U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood found Friday that six convicted men deliberately misled investors about the risks and possible rewards of investing in a company called Target Oil & Gas. Prosecutors say the company raised $15 million from investors between 2003 and 2008, but only paid out about $1.19 million in royalties, while the company asked investors to fund drilling projects in Kentucky, Texas, West Virginia and Tennessee. Judge Hood ordered the men to pay a total of $13 million in restitution. Judge Hood ordered 56 year old Michael D. Smith of Lancaster to pay $5.4 million, Christopher Cello Smith of Prestonsburg, Shaun Michael Smith and Mark Irwin, both of Cookeville, Tennessee, and Joshua Scott Harris and Ray Garton of Barrackville, West Virginia each to pay $1.6 million in restitution. Michael Smith was president of Target Oil and Gas in Albany and controlling interest holder of Kentucky Indiana Oil and Gas in Danville. His brother, Christopher Smith, was the company's vice president. The men were sentenced to federal prison in 2011, with Irwin and Shaun Michael Smith each ordered to serve 30 months, Michael D. Smith sentenced to 10 years, Garton to five years of probation, Christopher Cello Smith to five years in prison, and Harris to a year in prison.
