UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION


           LITIGATION RELEASE NO.  16002 / December 15, 1998

           U.S. v. JAMES RUSSELL CLEVELAND, H98-CR-196, USDC, SD/TX, Houston

                On December 11, 1998, James Russell Cleveland of Brenham, Texas,
           who pled guilty to securities fraud on July 10, 1998, was sentenced to
           46 months in federal prison, with three years of supervised release.
           The Court also ordered Cleveland to pay restitution in the amount of
           $2,510,001.

                The  criminal charge against Cleveland was based on the same
           activities alleged in a civil action filed by the Commission in United
           States District Court, Houston, Texas, on May 22, 1996. The
           Commission's complaint alleges that Cleveland, individually, and doing
           business as Central Texas Securities, took in at least $4.8 million
           from his customers to purchase municipal securities at below market
           prices, but never purchased the bonds for the investors. In fact, the
           complaint alleges, Cleveland used funds received from new investors to
           pay off previous customers, and used falsified confirmations and
           account statements to conceal his misuse and misappropriation of
           customers' funds. The Court entered a preliminary injunction against
           Cleveland on June 17, 1996.