Fugitive Justin Costello denied bail in stock, cannabis fraud case

Butcher wrote that the evidence itself is the least important factor in his decision to keep Costello in jail.

But, he added, “when taken together with the significant [prison] sentence Defendant faces if convicted, the Court finds Defendant has a serious incentive to flee.”

Costello’s lawyer Cindy Muro did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Costello, who has ties to Washington, Las Vegas and California, is due in San Diego court later Tuesday for another hearing related to his expected transfer to Washington state to face trial.

He is accused in the indictment of swindling thousands of investors and others in complicated schemes involving penny stocks, shell companies and a banking firm that did business with three unrelated cannabis companies. The Securities and Exchange Commission has sued Costello and another man, 44-year-old Radford, Virginia, resident David Ferraro, in a civil case alleging related fraudulent conduct.

Among other allegations, Costello is accused of using social media sites to coordinate false claims about publicly traded stocks to manipulate their prices so he could profit.

As part of the alleged scams, Costello falsely claimed to be worth a billion dollars or more and to have served two tours in Iraq as a member of the special forces, where he purportedly was shot twice. He also claimed to have “managed…