Filipino National Pleads Guilty in $48 Million Book Publishing Scam Targeting Seniors

SAN DIEGO — Michael Cris Traya Sordilla, a 34-year-old citizen of the Philippines, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court here on May 7 2026 to conspiracy charges in a nationwide book publishing fraud that caused losses exceeding $48 million to more than 800 victims, most of them seniors.

The scheme targeted authors by promising placement with major publishing houses and Hollywood film adaptations in exchange for substantial upfront fees. Sordilla is the first of four defendants to admit his role, per the Department of Justice release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California.

More than 800 victims lost a collective $48 million. The Justice Department identified the victims as authors, the majority seniors, who paid the fraudulent fees after being solicited nationwide.

Sordilla’s guilty plea changes the posture of the case from charging to conviction for the lead defendant. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled. The remaining three defendants face ongoing prosecution in the same district court. The plea also initiates mandatory restitution and forfeiture processes that require the government to identify and return assets traceable to the $48 million in victim losses.

Downstream, the conviction requires the court to calculate victim restitution amounts under the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act and to enter a forfeiture order covering proceeds and property derived from the scheme. Federal prosecutors must now prepare a detailed accounting of losses for each of the 800-plus victims before Sordilla’s sentencing.

The three co-defendants must decide whether to proceed to trial or negotiate their own resolutions, with the government holding Sordilla’s allocution as potential evidence. The case will also prompt the U.S. Attorney’s Office to notify all identified victims of their right to appear at sentencing and submit impact statements.

This marks the first guilty plea obtained by the San Diego U.S. Attorney’s Office in the four-person conspiracy. The original indictment charged the defendants with wire fraud and conspiracy counts carrying potential sentences of up to 20 years each.

The scheme operated by misrepresenting the defendants’ connections to legitimate New York publishers and Los Angeles studios, according to the factual basis filed with Sordilla’s plea agreement.