Father and Son Plead Guilty in $100 Million Stock Manipulation Scheme

Peter Coker Sr. and Peter Coker Jr. admitted to orchestrating a years-long securities fraud involving inflated stock prices for a New Jersey deli and a shell company.

• Peter Coker Sr., 82, and Peter Coker Jr., 56, confessed to manipulating the stock prices of Hometown International and E-Waste Corp., inflating their values by 939% and 19,900%, respectively.
• The fraudulent scheme, which ran from 2014 to 2022, involved coordinated trading to create a false impression of market demand for the stocks.
• The defendants used the companies as vehicles for reverse mergers, allowing private firms to go public while bypassing traditional regulatory scrutiny.
• James Patten, a co-conspirator, previously pleaded guilty to similar charges, and all three face potential sentences of up to 20 years in prison.
• Sentencing for Peter Coker Jr. and Sr. is scheduled for April and May 2025, respectively, following their guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Camden, New Jersey.

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