Fake cannabis billionaire Justin Costello pleads guilty in $35 million fraud, with recommended prison term of 10 years

Justin Costello, who posed as a billionaire and twice-wounded Special Forces Iraq veteran to dupe investors while portraying himself as a legal cannabis mogul, pleaded guilty Wednesday to securities fraud.

Under a plea agreement with Costello, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 10 years in prison, with Costello echoing that call and being barred from asking for less time than that.

Costello also agreed to pay victims of his frauds — which related to cannabis firms, a would-be bank, and stock pump-and-dumps — not less than $35 million in restitution.

Costello’s guilty plea in federal court in Seattle came three months after an FBI SWAT team apprehended the 42-year-old in a remote area of southern California, carrying a backpack containing gold bars, $70,000 in U.S. and Mexican currency, and a fake ID.

Days earlier, he had failed to surrender as agreed to face a 25-count indictment in the case.

That indictment charged Costello with three counts of securities fraud and 22 counts of wire fraud.

His guilty plea Wednesday was to a single count of securities fraud, but it covered much of the criminal conduct alleged in the indictment.