BRIEF: Chattanooga federal grand jury indicts Knoxville man for wire and bank fraud

May 18--A Knoxville man faces up to 55 years in federal prison after a grand jury in Chattanooga returned a seven-count indictment today for wire and bank fraud, according to a press release from the Department of Justice for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

John Allen Morris Jr., 50, devised a scheme to defraud people by creating two fake companies, Pillar Management Company and Superior Life Insurance Company, the release says. He convinced several people to invest annuities, bonds and insurance products in his companies -- then turned around and spent their money on personal bills, family expenses, and "Football Tech," a business which claimed to hold training camps for high school players, according to the release.

"If convicted, Morris faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for the wire and mail fraud charges," the release says. "He faces a maximum of 30 years in prison for bank fraud and a maximum of five years in prison for wrongful use of a government seal."

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