From the U.S. Attorney:
SUBURBAN CHICAGO INVESTMENT ADVISOR SENTENCED TO SIX AND A HALF YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR SWINDLING CLIENTS
CHICAGO — A suburban Chicago investment advisor has been sentenced to six and a half years in federal prison for inducing clients to invest in nonexistent business opportunities.
RALPH ROGERS III held himself out as an entrepreneur and investment advisor. From 2021 to 2023, Rogers fraudulently obtained funds from multiple individuals by falsely promising to invest their money in purported business opportunities, including fiber optic cable installation, computer chip manufacturing for Tesla, and a fitness recovery studio.
Instead of investing the funds as promised, Rogers used the money for his own personal benefit, including for travel, hotel rooms, jewelry, apparel, and gym fees.
He also made Ponzi-type payments to lull earlier investors.
Rogers carried out his scheme while on court-supervised release following a period of incarceration for a prior federal fraud conviction.
Rogers, also known as “Tres Rogers,” 63, of Batavia, Ill., pleaded guilty in November 2025 to a federal wire fraud charge. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Sara L. Ellis imposed the 78-month prison term and ordered Rogers to pay $238,044.62 in restitution to his victims.
The sentence was announced by Andrew S. Boutros, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and Douglas S. DePodesta, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI.
“Defendant is a serial fraudster who, through both sophisticated and unsophisticated means, pursues every opportunity to victimize any person who comes into his orbit,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin M. Pinkston argued in the government’s sentencing memorandum.
“Defendant selects his victims from his immediate environment: his gym, the local bicycle store, the local smoothie shop, the hotel bar where he is a guest, the restaurant where he is dining, the relatives of his romantic partner.
“He will defraud anyone he can.”
