LOGAN — An 82-year-old North Logan man, previously convicted of securities fraud almost two decades ago, has admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from another resident last year. Bruce William Anderson accepted a plea deal, agreeing to pay back the victim in exchange for not going to jail or prison.
Anderson appeared Nov. 6 in Logan’s 1st District Court. He pleaded guilty to communications fraud and intentional financial exploitation of a vulnerable adult, both second-degree felonies.
Cache County Deputy Attorney Griffin Hazard explained how Anderson devised a scheme to steal $119,000 from a woman. The crimes occurred in June 2023.
Defense attorney Shannon Demler explained how as part of the resolution to the case, Anderson’s plea would be held in abeyance. Instead of serving any jail or prison time, his client had the stolen funds to return to the victim.
Hazard said he had been in communication with the victim’s daughter, who was in support of the plea deal so they could get their mother’s money back.
According to court records, Anderson previously served time in prison after being convicted of securities fraud in 2008.
Between December 2000 and November 2003 he offered to buy stock in several companies, telling investors they would receive a 100 percent return on their investment. Combined, the investors gave him $596,000.
Anderson claimed that his companies needed the capital to develop projects that included creating a super capacitor that would enable electric cars to run a week at a time without a battery charge and manufacture a machine that turns automobile tires into electricity.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Brian Cannell accepted Anderson’s plea. He agreed not to impose any prison or jail time, but placed him on probation instead.
Judge Cannell told Anderson, “I’m expecting this to never happen again.” He warned that he could still order a sentence of to 15 years in prison if the defendant broke the law again.