SEC v. Louis T. Buonocore, Jeremy R. Draper, Frank J. Morelli, III, Berardino "Dino" Paolucci, Jr. and Don L. Rose (matched orders, 2016)

Judgment entered

✓ Checked against the primary document on October 4, 2026. The library's summary, tags and figures for this record were compared with the regulator's own document by an AI model (Claude) following written instructions, with sampled and disputed records read a second time. No lawyer has reviewed them. A checked record can still contain errors, and checked does not mean endorsed. See how we check records or report a correction.

Report an error in this record (sec-louis-t-buonocore-jeremy-r-draper-frank-j-morelli-iii-berardino-dino-paolucc) by email

In September 2016 the SEC alleged five men manipulated the penny stock of Ecoland International for about $3.2 million in profit. The Eastern District of Pennsylvania entered final judgments against Buonocore, Draper, Morelli and Paolucci on August 10, 2017 and against Rose on May 24, 2018. Combined, the judgments set disgorgement and civil penalties of about $3.34 million each, plus interest of about $509,000.

The record

What was ordered

Civil penalty

$3.3m

Disgorgement

$3.3m

Prejudgment interest

$509k

Total relief

$7.2m

Alleged gain

$3.2m

A dash means the release did not state a figure we could extract, not that the figure is zero. Penalty and disgorgement are stored separately so aggregates across the library do not double-count the same dollars.

What is alleged to have happened

The SEC announced this action on September 29, 2016 as release LR-23668, alleging that Louis Buonocore, Jeremy Draper, Frank Morelli III, Berardino Paolucci Jr. and Don Rose acquired control of Ecoland and sold stock into coordinated promotion.

The technique tag is this library's own reading of the conduct the regulator describes; agencies charge statutory provisions, not technique names.

The final judgments, which this record covers for all five defendants, enjoin each under Section 10(b), Section 17(a) and, for four, the beneficial-ownership reporting rules. Disgorgement with interest and an equal civil penalty were ordered: Buonocore $200,000 and $27,083.54 interest; Draper $15,000 and $2,462.31; Morelli $158,700 and $24,668.47; Paolucci $2,050,000 and $316,692.50; Rose $914,249.56 and $138,568.41. Draper, Paolucci and Rose are also barred from penny stock offerings. Totals are sums of the five judgments. The documents do not show whether any money was collected, and we did not check criminal outcomes. Checked on 2026-10-04.

What technique is this, and how does it work?

This action is tagged with one technique in our taxonomy. The tagging is ours: regulators charge statutory provisions, not technique names, so the mapping is an editorial judgement described in our editorial policy.

• Matched orders — see how it works, what statute it engages, and every other action tagged the same way.

Timeline

1. 2016-09-30 Litigation release published
2. 2017-08-10 Final judgments entered against Buonocore, Draper, Morelli and Paolucci
3. 2018-05-24 Final judgment entered against Rose

Primary documents

Everything on this page derives from the documents below. Where our summary and the primary document disagree, the primary document is right.

• SEC litigation release
• Final judgment, Buonocore
• Final judgment, Draper
• Final judgment, Morelli
• Final judgment, Paolucci
• Final judgment, Rose

The linked release is a work of the United States government and is not subject to copyright. Our summary and narrative above are our own writing.

Related actions

Other actions in the library sharing at least one technique tag with this one.

Record added September 10, 2026. submit a correction.