DES MOINES, Iowa – A federal jury in Des Moines convicted a Des Moines man yesterday for 11 counts of wire fraud, following a four-day trial.
According to public court documents and evidence presented at trial, Martin James Tirrell, 65, ran a scheme to defraud multiple individuals between February 2024 and January 2025. Tirrell’s scheme involved obtaining money from individuals that he claimed would be used to buy tickets to high-demand sports and concert events and resold at a profit. Instead, Tirrell used most of the funds for gambling and personal expenses, repaying loans, and paying other investors for earlier payments. In total, investors provided Tirrell several million dollars and the victim investors sustained a combined loss exceeding $1.5 million.
Tirrell was on federal supervised release for a 2019 mail fraud conviction. Tirrell was released from his 41-month prison sentence in January 2023.
A date for sentencing has not yet been set. Tirrell faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison on each count. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the United States sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
United States Attorney David C. Waterman of the Southern District of Iowa made the announcement. The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorneys Adam Kerndt and Joseph Lubben prosecuted the case.
