Facing the Music

During the months leading up to the trial, the number of Petty supporters shrank. Money for his defense dried up. Some investors sued Petty.

The biggest problem Petty has with the government's claims and the outcome of the case, he says, is that the government, not Petty, created the victims of TeleCom2000. Until the government seized the funds, Petty says, every investor had been paid as promised, and they would have continued to be paid. He's right about that; he was paying everybody off. He even has a book of planned payments that were stopped when the government seized funds, he says.

But Petty's own charts speak to the certainty of his eventual undoing. The income he shows on his chart starts at about $16.5 million in March 2002 and is predicted to nearly double each month until the trial, when TeleCom2000 would have taken in $146 million. By Petty's own projections and TeleCom2000's guaranteed returns of between 500 and 1,100 percent, his revenue of $146 million would have required a return to investors of between $730 million and $1.6 billion the subsequent year. Still, Petty does not agree that TeleCom2000 was guaranteed to collapse. He compares it to legalized gambling or Social Security, which is the "father of all Ponzi schemes," Petty says. His witnesses at trial got it right, he claims.

"They pointed their fingers at the FBI," he said to his brother in that taped telephone conversation. "They pointed their fingers at them in court and said, 'Al Petty did everything he ever told me he would do...If he gets started again, I'll be with him again, but you guys took my money and you took my business and I want it back. I'm your victim, not his victim.'"

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No matter who Petty believes is to blame, there is no question that TeleCom2000 left some investors in bad shape. By Petty's own account, some TeleCom2000 investors maxed out credit cards, cashed in IRAs, stocks and bonds and blew life savings. It's unclear if the government will be successful in getting anybody's money back.

Other investors, such as Kevin Garris of Pittsburgh, still stick up for Petty. Garris invested about $1,000 and received about $500 before the government shut down TeleCom2000. He says the network was getting its money from new network members and there is nothing wrong with that.

"Different people join under you, and the money comes from long-distance and cell phone expenses. That sort of stuff. It was working. It was working exactly the way he advertised it...A lot of people had no complaints about this," he says. "I can see that Al was set up royally. Somebody had it in for him...It's just nuts that the judge didn't drop the case. He must have been paid off."

Include William Hoohuli of Hawaii among those feeling ripped off by Petty. Hoohuli, a retired cement plant owner, says he spent about six months reviewing Petty's unsolicited faxes before investing about $6,000 in March 2002, the month the government ended Petty's operation. Petty's literature said that TeleCom2000 could afford to pay so much because the company bought millions of minutes of long-distance time. It was a pitch that made sense, and Hoohuli became convinced he could make money.

"If you read the structure, I think even you would jump in," he says. "I was hoping to get paid in April or May, and the check did not come...I'm mad at him because I lost money."

And then there is Anderson, the 58-year-old Tyler resident who wrote the book about Petty. Anderson, who sells annuities, worked himself into heart surgery while smoking up to four packs of cigarettes a day writing his 50,000-word tale of Petty's case. He had no personal involvement in the case but got interested after hearing about it from a friend. Anderson describes Petty as a sociopath who hid behind intentionally obfuscating language and charts.

"Where does all the money come from?" Anderson says. "Nobody understands that. It's Petty doublespeak. It has nothing to do with anything."

Petty seems certain he will get a new trial and vindication, though he could be sentenced any day. After having to sell a guitar for money to pay his hotel bill, he says, he was permitted to move back to his mobile home as he awaits sentencing.

His brother tried to patch things up and went to see Petty at the Hampton Inn before Petty went back home. Petty didn't let his brother come up to his room, but talked to him at length in the lobby. Petty told his brother that he believes his case is historic and that a book or a movie will come out that will show he is a victim of the government. His brother compliments him for his dedication, like when he built the Guitorchestra, and declares him a genius. Al Petty agrees.

"If you judge people by results, I'm a genius, but as far as brains are concerned, I doubt I've got any. You know I've always refused to take an I.Q. test, but I know this: I certainly get results," he says. "I get things done...Sometimes it ain't easy, but I get it done."

He pauses.

"I wish I had my car."