A Pell City man has been charged with a federal crime after authorities said he defrauded investors in his companies of more than $3 million.

John Michael Golden, 48, is charged with one count of wire fraud, according to a Friday announcement by Northern District of Alabama U.S. Attorney Prim Escalona and FBI Special Agent in Charge Carlton Peeples.

According to the complaint against Golden, he was the founder and owner of Wolf-Tek LLC, MountainTop Timber LLC, and DroneTek Inc.

Between January 2018 and July 2022, authorities said, Golden devised a scheme to persuade individuals to invest in his companies.

He made various misrepresentations to the investors, including his businesses were about to be sold for millions of dollars to companies such as Amazon, he had timber leases and an ability to harvest timber for profit, and he had hundreds of pre-orders for drones that he simply needed capital to fulfill.

Golden also gave some investors promissory notes in which he misrepresented his ability to repay.

Golden defrauded investors in his companies of more than $3.5 million dollars. He used the funds to pay back prior investors and for personal expenses.

The FBI investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Rummage is prosecuting the case.

The maximum penalty for wire fraud is 20 years in prison.