Christina Michelle Thompson was sentenced to 19 months in prison, and Bryan Paxton was sentenced to 24 months in prison for their role in a movie production scam. On February 7, 2012, Thompson and Paxton, a San Tan Valley couple, were arrested in Phoenix on charges of Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud.
Thompson and Paxton engaged in a scheme to obtain money by falsely promising an author that they had the ability and contacts to have his book made into a movie. To further the scheme, the pair posed as associates and business partners of notable Hollywood personalities. Thompson prepared a contract, which she purported was from Sony Pictures, that required the payment of an initial $50,000 fee, with an additional $150,000 to be deposited into an escrow account to cover production expenses.
On January 4, 2012, an investor wrote a $12,000 check to Love N Loyalty LLC, in which Thompson claimed to hold an interest, to secure the services of Thompson and a Hollywood producer to make his movie. Thompson and Paxton are not in the film industry and did not have the Hollywood contacts they claimed.
Thompson pleaded guilty last summer in an unrelated case of securities fraud and conspiracy relating to an FBI investigation in Colorado.
The investigation was conducted by Criminal Investigation Division of the Internal Revenue Service.