California Actor Receives 8-Year Sentence for Coronavirus Cure Scam
A man from Huntington Beach was sentenced on January 6 to 98 months in federal prison for misleading investors with false assertions regarding a COVID-19 cure and treatment at the start of the pandemic.
Keith Lawrence Middlebrook, 57, who is also a part-time actor, received the sentence from United States District Judge Dale S. Fischer, who additionally imposed a $25,000 fine. He was ordered to start serving his prison sentence immediately.
In May, a jury found Middlebrook guilty of 11 counts of wire fraud after a three-day trial.
Prosecutors indicated that Middlebrook sought investors from California, Nevada, New York, Texas, and Colorado starting in March 2020 through text messages, videos, and social media posts. He marketed a claimed COVID-19 cure, “QC20,” and a prevention treatment, “QP20,” wrongly asserting that they were “patent-pending” and personally developed, prosecutors stated.
Middlebrook assured “huge returns” on investments, labeling them as risk-free and 100 percent guaranteed, according to prosecutors.
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He also falsely claimed that former Los Angeles Lakers star Earvin “Magic” Johnson was a director in his company. Judge Fischer remarked that Middlebrook lied under oath about his alleged association with Johnson, which contributed to the severity of his sentence.
Furthermore, Middlebrook fabricated details to attract investors, including a nonexistent $10 billion purchase offer from a Dubai entity and supposed contributions ranging from $750,000 to $1 million each from seven different investors.
Middlebrook was arrested in March 2020 after providing pills—which he asserted could prevent the coronavirus—to an undercover FBI agent pretending to be an investor.
Middlebrook has appeared in several films, including well-known titles like “Iron Man 2” and “Moneyball.”
