Ex-Texas adviser gets 3 life sentences for $32 million Ponzi

A one-time investment adviser representative who courted clients with Bible-thumping zeal and loads of Texas charm, William Neil "Doc" Gallagher was sentenced Monday to three life sentences — plus another 30 years in prison — in Fort Worth, Texas.

The sentences resulted from Gallagher's guilty plea in August to charges stemming from a $32 million Ponzi scheme he ran in Hurst, Texas, that bilked senior citizens out of millions of dollars, according to a statement from the Tarrant County District Attorney's office.

Such severe penalties are unusual in white collar criminal cases but this case centered on elder fraud. The most prominent investment professional to receive such a sentence was Bernie Madoff, who died this year and who was sentenced in 2009 to 150 years in prison.

Gallagher could not be reached for comment. The Tarrant County District Attorney's office confirmed that he is in local jail and will be soon moved back into the Texas prison system.

According to the local district attorney, Gallagher, 80, ran the Gallagher Financial Group, which advertised on Christian radio with the tag line, "See you in church on Sunday." Last year, he pleaded guilty to similar charges in Dallas County and was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Gallagher had charm to spare, according to local news reports.

"If you heard the name Doc Gallagher on the radio or at an event, you probably remembered it," according to a Dallas Morning News article in 2020. "There’s a certain cadence to his name."

"If you met Doc Gallagher in person, you certainly remembered that," according to the article. "He was an unforgettable figure, a minor North Texas celebrity with his sparkling silver hair and radio voice to go with his AM radio show. But his unique talent was his ability to pop into your life, become your best friend and, of course, take your money."

One of his books was titled, "Jesus Christ, Money Master," according to the district attorney's office.

During a three-hour court hearing Monday, more than a dozen senior victims testified about losing anywhere from $50,000 to $600,000 that they had invested in the Gallagher Financial Group. They asked Judge Elizabeth Beach to give Gallagher life in prison, according to the district attorney's office.

"Doc Gallagher is one of the worst offenders I have seen,” Lori Varnell, chief of the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Elder Financial Fraud team, said in the statement. "He exploited many elder individuals. He worked his way around churches preying on people who believed he was a Christian."

In an interview Tuesday, Varnell said the the three life sentences were related to the nature of the crime, which was focused on hurting elders or senior citizens, which makes it different from white collar crime.

"Gallagher targeted elderly people, teachers, police officers, single moms, people who really needed this money and can’t earn it back," said Varnell. "These people live in fear of tomorrow because they have no other means to live. They invested with him time and time again because they trusted him. He basically pulled a regional Madoff."

According to BrokerCheck and Securities and Exchange Commission records, Gallagher was a registered rep with seven different broker-dealers from 1985 to 2001 and an investment adviser from 2003 to 2009. In 1999, the state of Texas reprimanded him and fined him $25,000 for a variety of shortcomings, including representing to the public that he was an adviser when he was not, according to his BrokerCheck profile.

Gallagher was sentenced to life terms on three charges: securing the execution of a document by deception for an amount greater than $200,000, theft of property more than $300,000 and misapplication of fiduciary property or property of financial institution of more than $300,000.

He was sentenced to another 10 years each on three charges: one charge of forgery against the elderly and two charges of exploitation of the elderly.