Brooklynn Chandler Willy, formerly an affiliate of Lubbock-based Ferrum Capital, pleaded guilty Thursday on 10 federal charges.
Willy and Lubbock businessmen Joshua Allen and Michael Cox were accused of stealing millions of dollars from hundreds of victims – mostly in Texas but other states as well. Criminal charges remained pending for Allen and Cox Thursday.
“I was a crook. I’m very sorry,” Willy was quoted as saying by Patrick Danner, a business reporter for the San Antonio Express News.
LubbockLights.com also spoke to a witness in court who said Willy was “hysterical” with crying and tears when U.S. District Judge Fred Biery made Willy address victims who attended the hearing.
The witness, who asked not to be identified but is very knowledgeable about the case, said Biery compared Willy to Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of medical technology company “Theranos.” Holmes made national news when she was convicted of fraud and ordered to pay back more than $450 million in restitution.
One woman snapped at Willy, according to the Express News, “I hope you rot in prison!”
Her attorney, Roy Barrera Jr., according to the Express News said, “It is the objective of my client, her husband and her family to pay back every single dollar owed to the victims in this matter that she is responsible for, judge, before she is sent to prison.”
The federal prosecutor said in court there are more victims than just the ones listed in her plea deal. As of the time of this article, a specific restitution amount was not listed for Willy.
Matthew King, an attorney for some of the victims, said, “This judge made sure that there was quite a bit of admonishment. … The judge ordered Brooklyn to address her friends and family on one side and her numerous victims in court on the other.”
“There was a pretty extended back and forth between the judge and Brooklyn on whether she was recognizing that she is in fact a thief and a fraudster. … So he wasn’t going to let her get away with muttering, ‘guilty’ and then being able to get on through,” King said.
Another attorney for various victims, Shari Pulman, was also there. She had about 30 clients in the courtroom but said there was a total of 75.
“She apologized profusely to her husband for everything she was putting him through. She talked about her kids for a minute,” Pulman said.
When Willy was asked by the judge to address the victims, Pulman recalled, “She said, ‘I wish I could have spoken directly to you before this, but I am very sorry for what happened.’”
Pulman and King both believed that Willy’s words were more of a performance than genuine contrition.
“I think a lot of that, quite honestly, was just for show. … I don’t want to say he [the judge] shamed her, but he made her uncomfortable,” Pulman said.
The charges that Willy admitted were:
- Wire fraud (six counts)
- Monetary transactions from unlawful activity
- Aggravated identity theft
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering.
While the criminal charges did not use the term Ponzi scheme to describe the Lubbock investment company, numerous lawsuits across Texas did.
Willy’s first indictment in late 2024 included charges of obstruction and making a false statement to the FBI and aggravated identity theft. She was reindicted in early 2025, then indicted one more time alongside Allen and Cox for securities fraud and other charges in mid-2025.
The FBI and IRS opened a 2023 criminal investigation in San Antonio and Lubbock, her first indictment said. When the FBI asked her questions about victims who lost money in Ferrum, she lied, according to her first indictment.
Willy’s sentencing was scheduled for September 28. That’s after Allen and Cox are scheduled for trial in August.
The court docket indicated a plea agreement exists, however, it was not yet available from the federal court system website at the time of this report. This story will be updated when possible to reflect details of the agreement.
Most of the charges against Willy carry a maximum penalty of 20 years and can be served concurrently – meaning she could serve all the sentences at the same time for a lower total time behind bars. However, aggravated identity theft is an exception. It carries a mandatory two year consecutive sentence – meaning she would have to serve that time above and beyond any other sentence.
Timeline
2017
- Allen and Cox started Ferrum Capital.
2018-2022
- Ferrum collected money from people in the form of interest-bearing notes at 8-10 percent interest. Company insiders were taking a percentage, according to documents filed in criminal cases.
- Ferrum loaned most of the money to Collins Asset Group, an Austin-based debt collection company. Later lawsuits would claim the business model was never profitable.
2020
- Willy was fined by state regulators and ordered to pay back commissions. Regulators ruled she was selling unregistered securities.
2023
- First-round Ferrum investors are paid back with interest by recruiting a new round of investors. Using new investors to pay previous investors becomes the basis of “Ponzi scheme” claims in various lawsuits. Insiders are taking a percentage. Willy, Allen and Cox “lied about their high commissions, [and] lied and misled about the collateral securing the investments,” criminal case records said.
- FBI and IRS began a criminal investigation.
- Collins Asset Group defaulted on its loan payments to Ferrum in July, according to one of the lawsuits filed in San Antonio. Ferrum then defaulted to its investors. A series of lawsuits began in October 2023.
2024
- Cox filed for bankruptcy. The registry in the case listed $82 million in claims. Later court records would refine the number to $67 million.
- A federal grand jury in San Antonio issued the first indictment in the case.
2025
- The most recent indictment named Willy, Allen and Cox together.
- Collins Asset Group filed for bankruptcy.
Ferrum was taken into receivership by a judge in San Antonio (in January 2024) during one of the lawsuits. Attorneys for the victims and the court-appointed receiver continue their efforts to recover money for the victims.
LubbockLights.com covered the story extensively since December 2024. Use the story links above or click here to see our coverage.
The day after Willy appeared in court, federal prosecutors issued a statement.
Press release
Former Financial Advisor Pleads Guilty to 10 Counts for Investment Fraud Scheme
March 20, 2026
SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio woman pleaded guilty Thursday for her role in a Ponzi scheme, announced U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas, Justin R. Simmons.
According to court documents, Brooklynn Chandler Willy, 46, was the owner of a San Antonio based company named Queen B Advisors LLC, doing business as Texas Financial Advisory (TFA), and Chandler Capital Holdings. Among other services, TFA purported to provide asset management and financial planning services.
At Willy’s recommendation, a married couple invested money into an investment company named Ferrum Capital in March 2018. Ferrum Capital was one of four investment companies allegedly run by co-defendants Joshua Allen and Michael Cox. In May of 2021, Willy again advised the victim couple to invest $500,000 with another Ferrum entity, using Chandler Capital Holdings as the agent to execute and deliver contracts. Rather than investing the funds as intended, Willy used the $500,000 for her own purposes, including personal credit card payments, payments to other investors, and payments to another business owned and controlled by Willy.
Willy continued her scheme with additional victims. As set forth in court documents, Willy convinced a separate married couple to invest approximately $2 million dollars in an associate’s company by promising that the investment would be used for the purchase of bad debt and other legitimate investments. In truth, Willy used the money for her own benefit, such as payments to herself, payments to her associate, and payments to other investors. Willy also convinced two other investors to invest $75,000 and $600,000 respectively into what Willy claimed were legitimate business investments. In truth, Willy, again, used their investments for her own benefit. During the course of the federal investigation, Willy forged the signatures of various victims on documents and provided those documents to federal agents for the purpose of misleading those agents.
Court documents further indicate Willy conspired with Allen and Cox by giving false information to investors concerning their investment in entities owned and controlled by Allen and Cox. Working with Cox and Allen, Willy convinced numerous investors to invest into a Cox and Allen controlled entity by falsely stating those investments were investments into legitimate business activities. In truth, much of that money went to the benefit of Cox, Allen, and Willy.
Willy pleaded guilty to 10 counts of an information filed on Feb. 25. She faces up to 20 years in prison on each of the six wire fraud charges, on the one wire fraud conspiracy charge, and on the one money laundering conspiracy charge. She also faces up to 10 years for engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from the wire fraud scheme and a mandatory minimum of two years in prison for aggravated identity theft, which, by statute, would run consecutive to any other punishment. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Allen and Cox are scheduled for a jury trial in August.
The FBI and IRS-CI are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Blackwell is prosecuting the case.
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