
(Image Credit: IMAGN) The Kentucky Sentate gavel rests on the wooden sound block in the Kentucky Senate chambers before the first day of Concurrence began at the state Capitol in Frankfort, Ky. March 13, 2025.
Fresno, California – Royce Newcomb, a 62-year-old entrepreneur once praised for his technological innovation, was sentenced Monday to five years and 10 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a years-long fraud scheme in which he stole $4.2 million from investors, lenders, and the federal government.
The case offers a stark contrast to Newcomb’s public image. As the founder of Strategic Innovations, a tech startup that marketed smart home devices to prevent package theft and assist emergency responders, Newcomb attracted media buzz and investor interest. His flagship product, the eLiT Address Box & Security System, even earned a spot on Time magazine’s Best Inventions of 2021.
But behind the acclaim, prosecutors say, was a scheme built on deception.
From 2017 to 2022, Newcomb misled investors with false claims, including a fictitious grant from the National Science Foundation. Promising to use their money to advance the company’s products, he instead spent it on personal luxuries: gambling, luxury cars, a mansion, and unrelated business ventures. Some of the funds were even used to repay disillusioned investors, a hallmark of Ponzi-style fraud.
The deception extended beyond private investors. During the pandemic, Newcomb secured over $260,000 in fraudulent loans by lying about Strategic Innovations’ revenue, including a $70,000 loan from the Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 relief program. These pandemic-era frauds have been a key focus of federal enforcement efforts, as the government tries to recoup billions lost to scams that exploited emergency programs.
What makes Newcomb’s case particularly egregious, prosecutors noted, is that he committed these crimes while on federal supervised release. In 2011, he was convicted of running a real estate fraud scheme in Sacramento and served more than five years in prison. His return to white-collar crime while still under federal supervision underscored, officials said, a pattern of disregard for the law.
“This wasn’t just about money,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith in a statement. “It’s about trust—trust that was broken repeatedly.”
The case, investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Barton and Jeffrey Spivak, falls under the umbrella of the California COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Strike Force, part of a national push to prosecute large-scale fraud tied to pandemic relief programs.
Newcomb’s sentencing closes another chapter in a saga where the line between visionary and con artist was ultimately drawn not by innovation, but by accountability.