San Diego Securities Attorney Sentenced to 85 Months for Pump-and-Dump Fraud Schemes

Published Nov. 6, 2026. Case status is current as of that date.

Securities lawyers are supposed to keep offerings honest, not invent fake companies for stock schemes. On July 11, 2025, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of California announced that securities attorney Andrew Coldicutt had been sentenced to 85 months in prison for securities fraud, false securities registration statements, and wire fraud in two pump-and-dump schemes [1].

Status: A federal jury convicted Coldicutt in March on all 17 counts. U.S. District Judge Jinsook Ohta also ordered $42,970 forfeiture and a $100,000 fine. Case No. 22cr1881. Because Coldicutt was dealing with undercover FBI agents and sources, no investors were injured [1].

What the trial evidence showed

According to evidence at trial [1]:

1. From 2017 through 2019, Coldicutt helped prepare a pump-and-dump around a fake backyard fruit-harvesting company and filed false SEC registration statements for an IPO.
2. In 2019 he presented undercover agents another pump-and-dump and wrote a false attorney opinion letter to facilitate a stock sale; a broker-dealer denied the transfer.

The person sentenced

Andrew Coldicutt. Securities attorney, San Diego area. Jury convicted on 17 counts; sentenced to 85 months; forfeiture $42,970; fine $100,000; 22cr1881 [1].

Case status (as of Nov. 6, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status	Source
Andrew Coldicutt	U.S. District Court, S.D. Cal. (Judge Jinsook Ohta), 22cr1881	Jury convicted March 2025 (17 counts); sentenced July 11, 2025 to 85 months; forfeiture $42,970; fine $100,000	[1]

Statuses can change, including through appeal.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of California, "San Diego Securities Attorney Sentenced to Prison for Fraud," July 11, 2025. https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/san-diego-securities-attorney-sentenced-prison-fraud