IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Criminal No. 05-CR-251 (FJS)

v.

MARTHA IVERY, also known as KELLY O'DONNELL,

Defendant.

Vio:

18 U.S.C. § 1341 and § 2

   (15 counts)

18 U.S.C. § 1029

   (1 count)

18 U.S.C. § 152

   (1 count)

INDICTMENT

The Grand Jury charges that:

COUNTS ONE THROUGH FIFTEEN
(18 U.S.C. § 1341 — MAIL FRAUD)

Introduction

At all times material to this Indictment:

  1. Press-TIGE Publishing Company, Inc. was located at 291 Main Street, Catskill, New York, 12414, in the Northern District of New York (hereinafter, "Press-TIGE").
  2. Defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell was the President of PressTIGE. As part of her job responsibilities, defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell purportedly published books on behalf of prospective authors for a pre-publishing monetary fee.

    The Scheme

  3. From on or about May 15, 1997, and continuing until on or about at least September 26, 2002, within the Northern District of New York and elsewhere, defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, willfully and knowingly devised, and intended to devise, a scheme and artifice to defraud prospective authors and to obtain their money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.

    Description of the Scheme

  4. It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, presented two separate persona to prospective authors: Martha Ivery, Publisher, Press-TIGE Publishing Company, Inc., and Kelly O'Donnell, Literary Agent, Kelly O'Donnell Literary Agency, Inc.
  5. It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, obtained payments in advance of publishing from a given prospective author both in her persona as Martha Ivery and in her separate persona as Kelly O'Donnell, without disclosing to the prospective author that they were one in the same person.
  6. It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, in an effort to give the appearance of legitimacy to said scheme and to assure payment, entered into publishing contracts with prospective authors.
  7. It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell demanded and accepted a variety of fee payments prior to publication of a given book, including initial payments to publish, separate fees for representation by a literary agent, separate fees for editing, separate fees for illustrations, separate fees for a Special Markets Program, and separate fees for a prospective author to purchase copies of her own book prior to publication.
  8. It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, in an effort to maintain the appearance of legitimacy to said scheme, offered a variety of excuses for non-publication years following the initial payment, including, problems with illustrations, problems with printers, lost manuscripts, computer viruses, failed computer disks, and production backlogs due to the large volume of retail orders placed through Press-TIGE.
  9. It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, in an effort to cultivate and maintain the loyalty of a given prospective author despite non-publication, in some instances for years following the initial payment, made representations regarding profitability, book signings, international book fairs and expos, complimentary cruise vacations and travel, as well as appearances on television talk shows.
  10. It was part of the scheme to defraud that, on June 19, 2002, defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, in an effort to insulate herself and Press-TIGE from the demands of dissatisfied prospective authors, filed to place Press-TIGE Publishing Company, Inc. into bankruptcy in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of New York.
  11. It was part of the scheme to defraud that defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell reconstituted Press-TIGE in a new entity, New Millennium Publishing House, Inc., and continued to solicit payments from the same prospective authors under the auspices of the new entity.
  12. On or about the dates listed below, within the Northern District of New York, defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, for the purpose of executing, and attempting to execute, the above-described scheme and artifice to defraud, knowingly did cause to be placed in an authorized depository for mail matter, to be sent and delivered by the United States Postal Service, and did cause to be delivered according to the direction thereon, an envelope addressed to: 219 Main Street, Catskill, New York (Press-TIGE Publishing Company, The.), or P.O. Box 788, Leeds, New York (Kelly O'Donnell Literary Agency, Inc.), all in the Northern District of New York, which contained a check issued by prospective authors known to the grand jury, in the amounts described below, and which included payment for book publications that were not fulfilled, all for the purpose of executing the scheme to defraud described above:
    Count Date (on or about) Amount
    One11/5/98$10,025
    Two12/4/97$2,800
    Three2/10/98$1,750
    Four5/3/00$3,700
    Five7/11/00$5,850
    Six5/16/97$3,850
    Seven12/28/00$1,665
    Eight6/19/01$1,665
    Nine11/26/01$3,330
    Ten11/23/01$3,190
    Eleven4/3/98$3,175
    Twelve4/6/98$3,195
    Thirteen9/21/98$3,245
    Fourteen9/7/99$4,250
    Fifteen3/11/00$3,291

(All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1341 and Section 2)

COUNT SIXTEEN
(18 U.S.C. § 1029(a)(1O) — FRAUD IN CONNECTION WITH ACCESS DEVICE)

On or about July 7, 2002, in the Northern District of New York, the Defendant, MARTHA IVERY, also known as KELLY O'DONNELL, without the authorization of the credit card system member or its agent, knowingly and with intent to defraud caused and arranged for another person to present to the member or its agent, for payment, one or more evidence or records of transactions made by an access device, in that, defendant MARTHA IVERY a/k/a Kelly O'Donnell, caused an agent of THE NOTEBOOK NETWORK to present for payment a credit card transaction in the amount of $598.13 to a Citi Credit Card, the account number of which is known to the grand jury, the account holder of which is a person known to the grand jury, without that person's prior authorization. Said use affected interstate commerce to the extent that defendant, card holder and THE NOTEBOOK NETWORK, are each in different states.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1029(a)(10))

COUNT SEVENTEEN
(18 U.S.C. § 152(2) — MAKING A FALSE OATH IN A BANKRUPTCY HEARING)

On or about July 26, 2002, in the Northern District of New York, the Defendant, MARTHA IVERY, also known as KELLY O'DONNELL, knowingly and fraudulently made a false oath or account in or in relation to: In the Matter of Chapter 7 Bankruptcy of Press-TIGE Publishing, Inc., Bankruptcy Docket No. 02-14014, in that she testified under oath at a 341 Hearing that: "Craig Roussan" was a person who worked on behalf of defendant Martha Ivery, whom defendant had met at an exit off the highway and paid cash, when, in fact, "Craig Roussan" was not a separate person but an alias used by defendant in correspondence to prospective authors.
(In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 152(2))

 
A TRUE BILL
Dated: June 1, 2005
[signature]
FOREPERSON

 
GLENN I. SUDDABY
United States Attorney
Northern District of New York

 
Thomas A. Capezza
Assistant U.S. Attorney
Bar Roll No. [masked]