NEW YORK — Former TV personality Carlos Watson was sentenced Tuesday in a federal financial conspiracy case about Ozy Media, an ambitious startup that went bankrupt after another executive posed as a YouTube executive to promote the company’s success.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn announced on X that a jury had found Watson guilty on all three counts against him: conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity fraud.
Prosecutors say Watson conspired to deceive investors and lenders to keep the cash-strapped company afloat.
Watson denied the allegations and pleaded not guilty. Watson testified that Ozy’s cash woes are standard for startups and that the documents provided to investors stated that the information had not been verified and was subject to change — “like ‘buyers beware,’” he said.
The defense blamed Ozy co-founder and chief operating officer Samir Rao for possible misrepresentation. Rao has pleaded guilty.
Watson, a cable news host who had worked on Wall Street and sold his own education-related startup, created Ozy in 2012. The company produced shows and gave “Ozy Genius” awards to students. It interviewed President Bill Clinton, won an Emmy Award, and produced an annual music and ideas festival that President Joe Biden attended in 2017when he was a former vice president.