United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi
08/17/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/17/2026 14:07
Canton Man Connected to Madison Timber Ponzi Scheme Sentenced to 20 months for Perjury
Jackson, MS - A Canton man was sentenced to 20 months in prison for perjury.
According to court documents, on February 25, 2026, William Byrd McHenry, Jr., 79, a federal jury found defendant guilty of making false statements under oath. On October 1, 2018, a civil suit was filed against McHenry and others to recover monies for victims of the Lamar Adams - Madison Timber Properties multi-state Ponzi scheme involving more than one hundred million dollars and hundreds of victims spanning a number of years. McHenry recruited others to invest in the scheme. A court judgment against McHenry for $3,473,230 was obtained in the civil suit on August 16, 2019. This was the amount the court determined McHenry owed to the victims. The court-appointed receiver, charged with recouping money for the victims, later examined McHenry under oath in a judgement-debtor examination when she could not recover any monies from McHenry towards satisfaction of the judgment. During the examination, McHenry lied about assets that could have been used to partially satisfy the civil judgment against him. More specifically, McHenry was asked directly about certain assets and whether he had sold them during the pendency of his own personal bankruptcy, which he filed after the $3,473,320 judgment. He falsely denied selling any such assets.
U.S. Attorney J.E. Baxter Kruger of the Southern District of Mississippi and Special Agent in Charge Robert A. Eikhoff made the announcement.
"McHenry believed he could evade justice by committing perjury to avoid accountability. Today's sentence proves otherwise. Making false statements under oath and attempting to obstruct justice will not be tolerated. The FBI and our partners remain steadfast in our commitment to uncover, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle finance and illicit fraud schemes-and to pursue justice and restitution for the victims affected by them."
The FBI investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Matt Allen prosecuted the case.
United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi published this content on August 17, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on August 17, 2026 at 20:07 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]