Two Million Families Trust Sports Thread with Their Children’s Data. Its Investor Outreach Is Led by William Daniel Leary, a Convicted Securities Felon

Sports Thread markets itself as the leading social networking and technology platform for youth sports. Its app and platform are used by more than two million individuals in the athletic community every year. It handles sensitive personal data for thousands of children and families across the country. And according to its own website, the person leading its investor outreach is William Daniel Leary, a man who pleaded guilty to 11 felony counts of securities fraud in 2008.

The conviction was not minor. In 2006, a Colorado Grand Jury indicted Leary on 15 counts of Class 3 felony securities fraud stemming from his operation of MTL, Inc., a youth sports training academy he used to solicit investments while concealing a significant financial history from investors. A superseding indictment followed. The case went to trial in June 2008, and after the government rested, Leary pleaded guilty to 11 of the 15 counts, formally admitting to making untrue statements of material fact, omitting facts necessary to make his statements not misleading, and engaging in conduct that operated as a fraud or deceit in connection with the sale of securities.

Among the facts he concealed from investors: multiple Chapter 11 bankruptcies with liabilities exceeding $3,000,000 and assets under $50,000, civil judgments for misuse of funds, personal use of investor money, an overdrawn bank account while accepting investor funds, and failure to pay earlier investors promised returns.

Sworn deposition testimony from Sports Thread's CEO, Leary's son, confirms that Leary is currently soliciting investors for Sports Thread and holds a partial ownership stake in the company. The role mirrors precisely what he was convicted of doing at MTL, Inc.: owner of a youth sports company, actively seeking investor capital.

For a platform entrusted with the personal data of millions of children and families, questions about who is vetting the backgrounds of those in investor-facing leadership roles seem worth asking. There is no public indication that Sports Thread has disclosed Leary's criminal history to its investors or its users.

Court records from the Jefferson Combined Court case 06CR1514 are publicly available through the Jefferson County court system.