Judge finds former investment broker Alan Lucas guilty of failure to appear

Cedar Rapids - A former investment broker convicted of swindling investors in 2013 was found guilty Wednesday by a judge for failing to appear on his last day of trial.

Sixth Judicial District Judge Paul Miller found Alan Lucas, 43, guilty of failure to appear. His sentencing is set April 22. He faces up to five years in prison.

Lucas is already serving 25 years for his 2013 conviction of ongoing criminal conduct and first-degree theft. The failure to appear charge stemmed from him not showing up on his last day of that trial.

Miller in his ruling said Lucas 'willfully failed to appear” and the state proved each element of the charge 'beyond a reasonable doubt.” Lucas waived his right to jury trial and consented for Miller to rule based on the minutes of testimony.

According to previous hearings, Lucas fled to Wisconsin and his attorney told the court he didn't know what happened with his client, but Lucas' mother told a judge that her son had purchased a plane ticket to India and was going to leave the country. Authorities arrested him in Wisconsin and he fought extradition back to Iowa for several months.

Miller reviewed minutes of testimony taken through depositions that included Judge Nancy Baumgartner, the prosecutor Assistant Attorney General Rob Sand, and Lucas' attorney Mike Lahammer, as witnesses in the case.

According to trial testimony, Lucas purchased Convenant Investment Fund from associate Noah Aulwes in May 2010 and then Aulwes transferred nearly $190,000 from the fund to Lucas, but the 40 investors were not informed of the transaction.

Lucas then took the investors' funds and paid off his personal credit card, rent for his company Asherlee Management, property taxes, and purchased a BMW and other items, according to trial testimony.

Aulwes, 58, of Cedar Rapids, was convicted of securities fraud and other charges in December 2012. He was sentenced to 10 years but was paroled in 2013.

Last year, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld the Iowa Attorney General's Office civil judgment that awarded more than $1 million from Lucas and eight businesses he controlled.