A former New Orleans attorney, Michael Brian DePetrillo, was sentenced to nine years in prison for violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The sentencing took place on July 23, 2025, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Michael M. Simpson.
Court documents show that DePetrillo, 43, was not registered as a Commodity Pool Operator (CPO) or an Associated Person (AP) of a CPO with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Despite this, he operated through several companies—Meteor, LLC; NOLA FX Capital Management, LLC; ELC Enterprise Solutions, LLC; and Argosapolis, LLC—acting as a CPO and AP of a CPO while embezzling client funds.
DePetrillo solicited investors by claiming their money would be pooled and invested in the NOLA FX FUND for trading foreign currency pairs on a leveraged basis. He also told investors he would invest in gold futures options, stocks, and cryptocurrency. Instead of using the funds as promised, DePetrillo misappropriated them for personal use.
The misused funds were spent on various personal expenses: about $3.7 million was paid out as “returns” to earlier investors; roughly $575,000 went into his own investments; around $425,000 covered rent; about $200,000 funded private air travel; and approximately $300,000 was used for online gambling. To hide these actions, DePetrillo created false account statements under NOLA FX FUND and NOLA FX CAPITAL that claimed profitable trading activity which never occurred.
Investigators found that DePetrillo did not follow regulations for setting up the forex pool or handling participant funds. He commingled investor money with his own and failed to deposit it into accounts belonging to NOLA FX FUND or NOLA FX CAPITAL. Over seven years, he collected about $9.2 million from roughly 55 victims.
United States District Judge Jay C. Zainey sentenced DePetrillo to 108 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. He must also pay restitution totaling $6,748,412.79 and a $100 special assessment fee.
Acting U.S. Attorney Simpson stated: “MICHAEL BRIAN DEPETRILLO…was sentenced on July 23, 2025 for violating the Commodity Exchange Act.” The office acknowledged assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the case’s investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Kathryn McHugh and Brian M. Klebba prosecuted the case.
