In 2021, he pled guilty to securities fraud for his role in defrauding investors of $227 million through a Ponzi scheme and, as a result, was sentenced to twenty years in prison in 2022.
[citation needed] Avery grew up in Tampa, Florida, and moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he was raised by his mother and a step-father, Robert Kozlowski after his first year in high school.
[9][8] A year after Fül was established, Avery created a fake email from Howard Schultz (Starbucks’ former CEO) reportedly offering him a lucrative job in Los Angeles as the leader of the "entrepreneur outreach" program for his venture capital firm "Mavron".
Avery used the fake job offer as a way to convince his wife to close down "Fül" for good in order to move to Los Angeles.
[14][15] The Hallivis brother said “We created 1inMM Productions to produce high concept genre films with an edgy and unique approach to storytelling ...
[18] Avery had told investors that he had acquired and distributed dozens of films including titles like the documentary Active Measures, the Italian comedy-drama and Director’s Fortnight selection Lucia's Grace, the Canadian Indigenous-focused zombie film Blood Quantum, and the French drama La Melodie,[13][7] particularly in Latin America.
Avery's lifestyle expenses included, interior decorating ($706,000),[1] Mercedes Benz and Audi cars ($605,000), private jet and yacht trips ($345,000), Los Angeles party consultant services ($174,000), Las Vegas casinos and nightclubs ($136,000), credit-card payments to American Express ($6.9 million), and a Beverlywood residence ($5.7 million[11][19]).
He blamed the problem on HBO and Netflix, which Avery claimed had refused to pay for movies they had licensed from his company.
§ 1343[21]) on 6 April 2021,[3][11] in connection with the alleged orchestration of a $690 million[19] Ponzi scheme that began in 2015, defrauding investors of over $227 million based on false claims that investor money would be used to acquire licensing rights to films HBO and Netflix had agreed to distribute abroad[16][17][22][23][24][25] On 4 October 2021, Avery pleaded guilty to one count of securities fraud.
[28] Friends and fellow Indiana University graduates Jake Wundrelin, Joe deAlteris, Matthew Schweinzger, and Tyler Crookston formed JJMT Capital (first initials of the founders), which went out and found dozens of investors for Avery's promissory notes, including their family, friends and professional contacts.
[13] Avery appeared in roles of movies being financed by 1inMM Productions, and being produced by Julio and Diego Hallivis, including The Shifter (2014),[29][8] The Laughing Man (2016),[30][31][32] Curvature (2017),[14] Hell Is Where the Home Is (2018),[33][34] and The Devil Below (2021)[33] etc.