Cape Girardeau man pleads guilty to federal wire fraud

A Cape Girardeau man pleaded guilty Friday to felony wire fraud in federal court, according to a news release from the U.S. District Court of Eastern Missouri.

Calvin Bird, 42, now faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and/or fines up to $250,000. Sentencing has been set for Oct. 30.

According to the news release, Bird met Kevin Hackenburg in 2005, and Hackenburg recruited Bird to solicit investors for various investment proposals, promising Bird a percentage of money paid by the investors.

Operating through an entity called Bird and Associates, which was later acquired by or rolled into Island Financial, Bird first secured a $1.5 million investment for Hackenburg, for which he was paid $200,000.

Bird found out after this first investment that Hackenburg was operating a fraudulent scheme, the news release said, but Bird continued to solicit more investments. Bird later defrauded a man of $260,000.

Restitution to victims is mandatory, the news release said.