Accused 'wedding scammer' facing felonies in Travis County for SXSW venue rental scheme

AUSTIN, Texas - The accused Willis "Wedding Scammer" is also facing two felony charges in Travis County for a SXSW venue rental scheme.

43-year-old Carl John Butcho II has been charged with third-degree felony false statement to obtain property or credit or in provision of certain services between $30K and $150K and third-degree felony fraudulent securing of document execution between $30K and $150K.

Charges in Travis County

What we know:

Butcho is accused of running a SXSW venue rental scheme that caught digital media company Axios in its web.

Court paperwork says that Axios's general counsel reported the fraud to Austin police in January, saying that one of its employees had toured a venue the previous October with the venue host, who stated his name was "Lance Miller."

Axios signed a rental agreement with "Miller" just over a week later and wired two payments totaling almost $80,000 to "Miller's" bank account. 

Axios alleged that "Miller" was actually Carl Butcho, and that he had falsified documents to lease that venue space with Austin-based Ironwood Real Estate LLC. Axios demanded repayment from Butcho, but never received it, court paperwork says.

During the investigation, APD learned that Butcho had multiple allegations of fraudulent activity, including concerning a Montgomery County wedding venue. The Montgomery County Sheriff's Office also confirmed to APD that they had an open theft investigation related to Butcho and the venue.

APD also met with an agent with Ironwood who provided the lease contract and outlined his and Butcho's interactions. The agent told APD that Butcho had been represented by a residential realtor and that the three of them had toured a location across downtown from the venue Axios attempted to rent.

The Ironwood agent gave APD all the documents Butcho had given them prior to executing the lease contract, including a bank statement for an account that reportedly had millions in it. However, APD learned from the bank that no such account existed and the statement was fake. 

Also included in the documents Butcho gave Ironwood were tax forms using the name "Lance Miller" and a Social Security number that APD learned belonged to someone else, not Butcho, court paperwork says.

Butcho also allegedly tried to pass two checks to Ironwood with both being returned for insufficient funds, then a cashier's check which he had stopped payment on as soon as he gave it to Ironwood, out of three separate bank accounts.

Montgomery County case

Dig deeper:

Butcho is also accused of scamming couples who planned to get married at the Charleston Lane Wedding Venue in Willis, Texas. He allegedly pretended to be the venue's owner and manager and went by the name "Lance Miller." 

Officials say Butcho victimized 12 people, with losses totaling over $213,000.

In May, FOX 26 broke the story of a Houston bride who lost more than $50,000 after showing up to locked doors at the venue the day before her wedding. 

After the first two stories aired, the Montgomery County District Attorney confirmed that the sheriff's office launched an investigation into the matter.

FOX 26 continued to report and compiled a list of victims and began tracking total losses of those affected.

Shortly after, the man in question was identified by his alias "Lance Miller" and details of the investigation were made public. 

Justin Sayles, the host of "The Wedding Scammer" podcast, had been tracking Butcho for about five years, telling FOX 26 that his leads had taken him to San Francisco and Los Angeles and Houston too.

Through his investigation, he says many people have filed civil suits against Butcho - but this is the first time in decades that he has been criminally charged for his alleged fraudulent activity. 

What's next:

Court records show a September 3 email-only attorney check-in for Butcho's Travis County cases.

As of Monday evening, Butcho was being held in the Travis County Jail on a collective $16,000 bond for the Travis County charges and a $100,000 hold for an out-of-county felony.