Santa Fe businessman, music, theater figure charged with securities fraud

Jan. 1—A man well known in Santa Fe's music, theater and political circles has been indicted on charges accusing him of illegally withholding information from people who invested in his hemp company.

A grand jury indictment filed Dec. 15 in state District Court charges Loveless Johnson III, founder of Amerigreen Organics, with six felony counts alleging securities fraud and six alleging the offer or sale of an unregistered security.

About $57,000 was invested in the securities alleged to have been sold, state Regulation and Licensing Department spokeswoman Andrea Brown wrote in an email Friday.

An online profile for Johnson, a local singer, actor and self-described "independent entrepreneur," says he is a U.S. Navy veteran, served as director of environmental justice at the U.S. Department of Energy during the Clinton administration and has worked on several political campaigns.

He said he's innocent of the charges.

"Amerigreen Organics has investors who will stand with me in court as its CEO to testify as to how hard I work and have always worked to make Amerigreen the success that I had promised," he said in a phone interview Friday. "Six of the 26 [investors] are disgruntled and I understand why. But I'm not guilty until proven so.

"They will still receive the same benefit as every other investor in the company when our day of victory comes," he added.

The six-page indictment — signed by District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and Benjamin Schrope, acting director of the state Regulation and Licensing Department's Securities Division — alleges Johnson, 58, failed to reveal details about his past that a reasonable person would have needed to make a decision about investing, including:

* Failing to disclose he had been convicted of fraud and forgery in 2005.

* Failing to disclose he had a pending criminal case in Arizona in which he was charged with the unregistered sale of securities.

* Failing to disclose multiple lawsuits and judgments against him for outstanding debts.

He is also accused of using investor money for personal expenses, according to the indictment, which says at the time the alleged victims made investments — between June and December of 2019 — Amerigreen Organics had "little or no capital."

The fraud charges are third-degree felonies punishable by up to three years in prison each, and the counts of offering or sale of unregistered security are fourth-degree felonies punishable by up to 18 months in prison, exposing Johnson to a total maximum period of incarceration of more than 20 years.

Online court records show Johnson pleaded guilty in 2005 to one count of forgery and one count of fraud after being accused of forging a $1,950 check belonging to an Albuquerque man. Johnson received a deferred sentence that called for him to serve three years of probation and pay restitution.

Johnson has been the subject of numerous civil complaints in New Mexico dating to 1998, according to online court records, including complaints filed by previous landlords.

He was evicted from his apartment in Santa Fe's South Capitol neighborhood earlier this year, court records show. Former landlord Gerard Izard said in a phone interview Friday it took him years to remove Johnson, in part due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Court records show Izard and Johnson have been involved in a landlord-tenant dispute since 2018. When Izard regained control of his property last spring with the assistance of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, he said Johnson owed him close to $5,000 and he discovered water service had been turned off at the property for nearly a year.

Little Earth School obtained a $4,122 judgment against Johnson in a 2004 case, according to online court records.

He used a 1999 Porsche 911 Carrera as collateral for a $1,500 loan from Title Loans Express in 2000, according to a complaint the company filed in Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court in 2001, accusing him of defaulting on the loan and attempting to take possession of the car to satisfy the debt.

A Santa Fe couple filed a complaint in state District Court in 2005 accusing Johnson and a company called Misunderstood Entertainment of defaulting on a $4,000 loan.

Some cases against Johnson are so old the files have been destroyed, making it difficult to determine the outcomes.

Johnson has an IMDb profile that lists him as an actor known for the 2007 movie The Lives of Angels, a creation of Santa Fe writer and director Stephen Jules Rubin.

Johnson also is a trustee for the Santa Fe Playhouse.

"The Santa Fe Playhouse was surprised to hear the recent allegations concerning Mr. Loveless Johnson III," Playhouse management wrote in an email sent by a spokesman Thursday. "Mr. Johnson III has been a dedicated member of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Fe Playhouse. At this point, the Playhouse can only comment further once the legal process has concluded."

Johnson attended Southern University in Louisiana, majoring in mathematics and physics, according to an online biography that noted work on campaigns in Georgia that included Andrew Young for governor. The biography said he was state director for Bill Clinton's presidential primary campaign in 1992.

The New Mexican quoted Johnson in 2017 as the head of Smart Progress New Mexico, a group that opposed a proposed city tax on sugary beverages.

Johnson acknowledged in the story the group was late filing its campaign finance report but intended to do so. It quoted Johnson as saying that despite an initial reluctance to reveal donors and donation amounts, he didn't want to be accused of using "dark money" to influence the election.

"We were never trying to be sneaky about it," Johnson is quoted as saying in the story.

The Sierra County Sun highlighted Johnson in a 2020 story that quoted him as saying he was "dedicated" to the town of Truth or Consequences after being rejuvenated in its hot springs following a car accident. He said he was "determined" to bring Amerigreen Organics and 90 jobs to the community where he had spearheaded a "state-championship karaoke competition" in 2009.

More recently, Johnson has gotten press for his musical acumen.

The Santa Fe Reporter spotlighted Johnson in a story in the weekly's Aug. 30 edition, noting his recent performances at multiple downtown night spots, saying Johnson has become "a ubiquitous musical presence at jazz shows, blues shows [and] R&B shows" in the city.

Johnson is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday in state District Court in Santa Fe.

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