MARIETTA | Author pleads guilty on federal wire fraud, money laundering charges | News

ATLANTA (WXIA) -- Marietta science fiction author Mitchell Gross pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal wire fraud and money laundering charges.

According to a release from the US Attorney's office, Gross began a romantic relationship with a woman he met through an internet dating service - and claiming he was independantly wealthy and financially secure, convinced the woman to to wire nearly $3 million to an account controlled by Gross.

In a second scheme, the US Attorney said Gross befriended an unmarried couple and represented himself as "successful lawyer and entrepreneur." The release said Gross had been disbarred in 1991 for engaging in "dishonesty, fraud and deceit."

The release said Gross got the couple to pay about $2.2 million in "legal fees" to Gross over the course of 10 years in relation to a supposed lawsuit related to the couple's real estate business. According to the US Attorney, no such lawsuit existed, and the money they paid to Gross was used for his personal lifestyle and travel.

"Much like the novels this defendant wrote, the stories he told to his victims to entice them to entrust him with their money or their legal business were also fiction, but of a far more sinister nature. Setting up phony investment companies and fake lawsuits may have provided this defendant with a comfortable lifestyle for a while, but now the storyline has changed and he faces the stark reality of federal prison," said US Attorney Sally Yates in a release.

Gross could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for each of two wire fraud counts, plus 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines for the single count of money laundering for a total of up to 40 years in prison and an up to $750,000 fine.

Gross has written several novels under the name Mitchell Graham. The biography of Graham on his publisher's website says he is an attorney in the state of Florida and says he lives in Miami.