United States Attorney Felicia C. Adams and Donald Alway, special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, announced Friday that Tyler L. Smith, 46, of Oxford, appeared in court and entered a plea of not guilty to a one count indictment charging him with wire fraud.

The indictment alleges that Smith induced lenders to provide him with loans based on false material misrepresentations and then failed to repay the loans. If convicted, Smith faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, three years of post-release supervision and restitution in the amount of loss.

This matter is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

An indictment is merely an allegation of wrongdoing and Smith is presumed innocent until proven guilty.