They agreed to plead guilty next week in exchange for prison terms of less than 10 years, according to the U.S. Attorney's office. This is the second set of charges facing Boelens. He was convicted in January when he pleaded guilty in New York to charges of conspiracy and grand larceny of $29.5 million of Evergreen's assets. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 15.

Securities salesmen Thomas S. Spencer of Orlando and Anthony V. Micciche of Tampa, FL were also formally charged Wednesday. Spencer was charged with securities, mail and wire fraud; Micciche with selling unregistered securities. The bonds promised interest returns of 10% to 12% at a time when market returns were in the 5% range.

Boelens voluntarily placed Evergreen into Chapter 11 protection from creditors under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in January 2001, listing liabilities of $214 million and assets of $3 million. That's when Evergreen's Ponzi scheme unfolded for the first time.