Chattanooga brokers begin jail sentences

Two Chattanooga investment dealers are headed to federal prison this weekend after pleading guilty earlier this year to defrauding hundreds of local investors out of more than $4.9 million at their Broad Street Ventures.

Doug Dyer, the 58-year-old former president of the Chattanooga Quarterback Club, reported to federal prison on Friday and his partner, 68-yearold James Brennan, will report to federal prison in Atlanta on Monday. Brennan was granted another three days after saying he needed extra time to deal with the foreclosure on his home. The former business executives raised millions of dollars in both California and later in Chattanooga for investments that authorities said were improperly made or illegally diverted for personal use. But since regulators seized Broad Street Ventures and charged the partners with multiple counts of fraud and tax evasion, the two have worked in manual labor jobs for a fraction of what they previously made.

Mickey McCamish, a retired Navy captain and businessman who met Dyer through support of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga athletic events, said Friday he was “glad that justice has finally come” two years after he first learned of the FBI probe of the investment fraud.

Brennan did not contest his 4-year sentence, but Dyer did file an appeal of his 5-year sentence after U.S. District Judge Travis McDonough imposed the penalty in September. But Dyer’s original attorney, Lee Davis, who was previously paid for by a family member, withdrew from representing Dyer in the sentencing appeal.