Mama’s lessons never become irrelevant no matter how much the world changes.

And it’s likely that in 2006 when a bit of a mystery man rolled in to town touting his ability to almost magically make fuel from soybeans, more than a few local residents shook their heads and remembered Mama’s lesson.

“If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is,” Mama always said.

John Rivera sounded fishy to many folks as he paraded around town appearing at special events while opening shop at the Adams County port.

Suspicions were confirmed when the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission began looking into Rivera and his company and later alleged that Rivera used false press releases and other false public statements to drive up interest — and stock price — in his company, U.S. Sustainable Energy Corp.

Last week a judge ruled in favor of the SEC, closing the book on USSEC and John Rivera.

The details of just how much he may be forced to pay will be decided at his next court appearance on Aug. 8 at the U.S. District Court in Natchez.

It’s good to see that the system identified Rivera and fleshed him out as a crook.

Now, we’d all be wise to realize next time something too good to be true pops up in front of us that we’d better think about Mama’s lesson.