Brooklyn Chandler Willy, former financial adviser, Pleads Guilty

 3/20/2026

Ex-San Antonio financial adviser Brooklynn Chandler Willy pleads guilty in Ponzi scheme

 An emotional and chagrined Brooklyn Chandler Willy, the former financial adviser who peddled her wares on radio and online, pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges that she defrauded clients, including some who invested in what turned out to be a Ponzi scheme.

 Appearing before U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, she entered pleas to six counts of wire fraud and one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, engaging in monetary transactions involving assets derived from illegal activities, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

 

“I took money,” Willy, 46, said, with cajoling from Biery. “I was a crook. I’m very sorry.”

Some of Willy’s victims packed the courtroom for her plea hearing. After it concluded, a blond-haired woman snapped at Willy, “I hope you rot in prison.”

Willy remains free on a $40,000 unsecured bond and will not be sentenced until possibly this fall, after her two co-defendants’ trial is over. The wire fraud charges alone each carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. 

 

Willy owned Queen B Advisors LLC, which did business as Texas Financial Advisory. It had offices in Stone Oak, Boerne, New Braunfels, Corpus Christi and Victoria before it shut down in late 2024 following her arrest. The firm reported managing nearly $118 million in assets on behalf of about 620 clients at the time.

She pitched her investment prowess on radio and television, but in 2020 ran afoul of the Texas State Securities Board for engaging in the sale of “alternative investments” without being registered as a securities dealers or as an agent of a dealer.

After the San Antonio Express-News reported in 2023 on mounting lawsuits filed by her clients alleging she had committed fraud and violated securities laws, the FBI and the IRS launched a criminal investigation.

Federal prosecutors initially charged her during the ongoing investigation with impeding a grand jury proceeding, making a false statement and aggravated identity theft. She spent seven weeks in jail before being released on bond in January 2025.

 

Then, in July, a grand jury handed up a four-count indictment in a second case against Willy. She was charged with securities fraud and three conspiracy counts. 

The indictment also named Joshua Allen and Michael Cox, who co-owned Lubbock-based investment firm Ferrum Capital LLC. They have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled to go to trial Aug. 10.

RELATED: Brooklynn Chandler Willy’s investment advisory firm has permanently shuttered as she remains jailed

Willy, Allen and Cox used Ferrum and similarly named companies “to steal millions of dollars from hundreds of victims,” the indictment alleges.

 

Willy’s plea agreement only identifies six of her victims. They invested more than $3 million with her. She used some of the money for herself while paying interest to others, the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.

Roy Barrera Jr., one of Willy’s defense lawyers, told Biery that she and her husband already have turned over more than $900,000 in restitution to the government.

“My client’s family is prepared to make monthly restitution payments north of $1,000, and possibly up to $5,000 to $10,000 a month, for as long as the court and the government are willing to commit her and her family to make that restitution,” Barrera said. “So it is the objective of my client, her husband and her family to pay back every single dollar owed to the victims in this matter that she is responsible for, judge, before she is sent to prison.”

 

Barrera then said he was referring to the six victims identified in the charging document. 

Blackwell said there are more than six victims and the restitution she will owe encompasses more than just them. The actual amount hasn’t been determined yet.

Willy blamed her actions on “greed.”

Toward the conclusion of the hearing, the judge, who appeared by video, ordered Willy to turn around and address her victims in the courtroom.

 

“I wish I had been able to talk to you before this,” she said, her voice cracking. “I’m very sorry … I hate that we’re going through this. I hate that I’ve put you through this. I am doing everything in my power to pay (you) back. I mean, everything that I can do and give. I’m so committed to making right what I’ve done wrong.

“I think about you all the time,” she added. “I hate that you’re going through this. I hate that this has affected your life, your retirements, your families’ lives.”

Willy appears to be involved with a marketing firm using the name Brook Chandler, according to a LinkedIn profile.

 

It’s unclear if Willy will testify against Allen and Cox during their trial.