Ozy Media Founder Carlos Watson Sentenced to 10 Years for Fraud

Carlos Watson, founder of Ozy Media, has been sentenced to nearly ten years in prison for lying about the financial stability of his company to defraud investors.

Carlos Watson, who previously served as an MSNBC contributor and CNN anchor, was convicted in July of this year by a New York jury for fraud and conspiracy charges following an eight-week federal trial. His company was also partially funded by left-wing billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs. As Breitbart News reported at the time:

Ozy Media — which was funded in large part by left-wing billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs — shut its doors last year after the New York Times ran an explosive investigation uncovering a scheme involving Watson and Ozy COO Samir Rao to impersonate executives from YouTube and other firms in order to land investment dollars.

The brazen plot involved years of deception that also included the misrepresentation and falsification of Ozy’s financial results, debts, and audience size.

Ozy was launched in 2013 as an entertainment and news company with the intent to produce TV and online content, as well as podcasts, for various outlets.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, called Watson’s plan an “audacious scheme” to steal millions from investors.

“His incessant and deliberate lies demonstrated not only a brazen disregard for the rule of law, but also a contempt for the values of honesty and fairness that should underlie American entrepreneurship,” Peace said in a statement on Monday.

“On far too many occasions, Watson chose deceit over candor, grasping for the illusion of business success and personal acclaim at any cost. Today’s sentence should serve as a warning to those who would engage in fraud that justice will be swift and certain,” he added.

COO Samir Rao pleaded guilty last year to fraud charges along with former Ozy chief of staff Suzee Han. Both testified against Watson in the trial. Watson maintained that he did not personally mislead investors and said it was done by other employees in the company.

The Justice Department said on Monday that Watson would even “direct Ozy employees to create fake contracts” in order to give the impression of a thriving company.

“On multiple occasions, when faced with questions from lenders or potential investors, Watson and his co-conspirators assumed the identities of and impersonated actual media company executives to cover up their prior fraudulent misrepresentations,” the Justice Department added.

“Watson faced up to 37 years in prison. He will spend 116 months in prison for conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and aggravated identity theft,” per TheWrap. “Further penalties of forfeiture and restitution will be imposed at a later date, Justice Department officials said.”

As Breitbart News editor-in-chief Alex Marlow profiled in his book Breaking the News, Laurene Powell Jobs has been a significant benefactor of left-wing causes in the media. Marlow even told conservative commentator Mark Levin that Powell Jobs might be the new George Soros.

“I want to share something with you that I saved specifically for you and this audience, what I think is the most important revelation in the book, which is I believe I’ve uncovered the new Soros on the Democrat left,” Marlow said in 2021.

“It’s a woman named Laurene Powell Jobs, and she’s the widow of Steve Jobs, and this is a woman who’s very cleverly come up with a way to fund the prestige establishment press. I’m talking about the Atlantic, which she owns. She also owns most of Axios, but she also funds the activist press, the press that essentially tries to launder Democrat propaganda — left-wing propaganda — through local news outlets, and of course, she’s very tight with Democrat politicians,” Marlow continued.

“[Laurene Powell Jobs] is said to have a tight close personal relationship with Kamala Harris, and of course, she’s networked with the biggest companies in the world. She gets her money from Apple and Disney. This person has done this and been named the most mysterious mega-giver in the world.”

Paul Roland Bois directed the award-winning Christian tech thriller, EXEMPLUM, which has a 100% Rotten Tomatoes critic rating and can be viewed for FREE on YouTube, Tubi, or Fawesome TV. “Better than Killers of the Flower Moon,” wrote Mark Judge. “You haven’t seen a story like this before,” wrote Christian Toto. A high-quality, ad-free rental can also be streamed on Google Play, Vimeo on Demand, or YouTube Movies. Follow him on X @prolandfilms or Instagram @prolandfilms.