COWETA COUNTY, Ga. — A federal judge sentenced Georgia conservative political insider Brant Frost IV to 15 years in prison after prosecutors said he headed a Ponzi scheme that cost hundreds of First Liberty Building & Loan investors more than $76 million.
Channel 2 Investigative Reporter Justin Gray has been following the case against Brant Frost IV, 69, since 2025, and was inside the federal courtroom in Newnan for Frost’s sentencing.
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U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May sentenced Frost to 15 years in federal prison, one year more than prosecutors had requested. She also ordered him to pay restitution to 300 victims totaling exactly $76,454,374.39.
The sentencing took place just steps from where Frost ran First Liberty and where millions of dollars in investor money was lost.
No cameras are allowed inside federal courtrooms, but Gray watched as victims spent about two hours emotionally describing what they had lost.
Jordan Baldwin, whose brother were also both victims turned to Frost and said, “Your life is a fraud.”
More than 120 friends and family of Frost wrote letters to thew court in support of him.
Baldwin’s father Allen addressed that when talking about the betrayal he says he felt, “I understand why each of those people wrote those letters because I knew that man. I trusted him.”
Many victims told the court their losses had upended their retirement plans.
Among them was 94-year-old James McMaster, who lost more than $1 million.
“What’s he going to do after he gets out, wash dishes to pay us back?” McMaster told Channel 2 Action News.
McMaster said there is still one question he wants answered.
“I’d still like to know where the $76 million [is],” he said.
When Frost took the podium to address the court, he acknowledged what he had done.
“I have done a terrible thing. I own it,” Frost said. “I messed up a lot of good peoples’ lives. I’m desperately sorry,“ he continued.
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But Frost also defended the business, telling the court, “I did believe we were going to make it.”
May rejected Frost’s explanation.
“It seemed like you are still trying to sell me. It’s just not believable,” the judge said. “You would pray with people, look them in the eye and lie.”
After the hearing, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Theodore Hertzberg reacted to the verdict in an interview with Channel 2 Consumer Investigator Justin Gray.
“This is a crook. This is someone who stole from people, who used his faith and the faith of others to take advantage of them so he could enrich himself,” Hertzberg told Channel 2 Action News. “It’s a shame he hasn’t realized that, and it’s a shame the people around him haven’t realized that.”
Throughout roughly two hours of victim statements, Frost remained stone-faced in the courtroom.
But he became emotional when his own attorney spoke about him.
When the attorney called Frost “a beautiful soul,” Frost began to cry.
After the sentencing, Gray was interviewing McMaster outside the courthouse when Frost walked out.
“Mr. Frost, after court, do you have anything to say?” Gray asked.
Frost did not respond.
“Sir, you have nothing to say to the people who put their trust in you? They trusted you with their money, sir,” Gray asked.
Frost again said nothing.
His attorney stepped in to say, “he addressed the court in court.”
Frost must surrender to federal authorities within 30 days.
A receiver appointed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is trying to determine where the $76 million went and how much can ultimately be recovered for victims.
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