United States Attorney Melinda Haag
 Northern District of California
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     CONTACT:  JACK GILLUND March 1, 2012                                                                                                                  (415) 436-6599  
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN                                                                               Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov
 

 
Defendant Also Ordered to Pay $234,000 In Restitution to Victim
 

            OAKLAND – Thomas Perez Jewell was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Oakland, California, to 29 years in prison and was ordered to pay $234,000 in restitution for producing child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and Special Agent in Charge Stephanie Douglas of the FBI’s San Francisco Field Office. 
                                                                       
            According to court documents, Jewell first came to the attention of law enforcement authorities when he was suspected of distributing and possessing child pornography.  A search of Jewell’s Pleasant Hill apartment pursuant to a search warrant revealed evidence that Jewell had sexually molested two minor victims and photographed and videotaped his abuse.  A hard drive hidden under the mattress in Jewell’s bedroom contained thousands of images of the minor victims.  Prior to his arrest and conviction, Jewell was employed as a youth counselor and therapist in Contra Costa County.
           
            Jewell, 54, was indicted by a federal grand jury on December 9, 2010.  He was charged with production of child pornography, transportation of child pornography, and possession of child pornography, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 2251(a) and (e); 2252A(a)(1) and (b)(1); and 2252A(a)(5)(B) and (b)(2).  He pleaded guilty to one count of production of child pornography on November 23, 2011.
                                                                                                           
            Jewell was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton.  Judge Hamilton also sentenced the defendant to a lifetime of supervised release.  Jewell has been in custody since his arrest on November 18, 2010.
                                                                                   
            The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua Hill and Trial Attorney Mi Yung Park of the Department of Justice Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section with the assistance of Vanessa Vargas.  This case was investigated by the FBI, the Pleasant Hill Police Department, the Martinez Police Department and the Walnut Creek Police Department.
 
            This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.  Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.  For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit www.projectsafechildhood.gov.

United States Attorney Melinda Haag
 Northern District of California
 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                     CONTACT:  JACK GILLUND February  27, 2012                                                                                                           (415) 436-6599  
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/CAN                                                                               Jack.Gillund@usdoj.gov
 

VESTA STRATEGIES MAJORITY OWNER PLEADS GUILTY TO $25 MILLION PONZI-SCHEME
 
John Terzakis Admits to Conspiring to Defraud Clients’ Section 1031 Deposits
 

            SAN JOSE, Calif. – John Terzakis pleaded guilty in federal court in San Jose on Feb. 23, 2012, to three felony counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering arising out of his role as majority owner of Vesta Strategies, LLC, United States Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
 
            Terzakis, formerly of Hinsdale, Ill., owned Vesta through Single Site Solutions Corp., a Willowbrook, Ill., company that at one time managed land-development and commercial real estate projects in the Chicago area.  Vesta was a qualified intermediary for the purpose of conducting tax-deferred real estate exchanges pursuant to Internal Revenue Service Code Section 1031 (26 U.S.C. § 1031).  In general, a Section 1031 exchange allows taxpayers to avoid paying tax on capital gains by depositing the proceeds from an investment real estate sale, that would otherwise qualify as a taxable capital gain, with a qualified intermediary for up to 180 days.  Under Section 1031, if the taxpayer purchases another investment property within those 180 days, the proceeds from the first sale may be rolled over into the new investment without being taxed as capital gains. 
 
            According to the indictment, Vesta, based in San Jose, collapsed in July of 2008 with approximately $25 million owed to its Section 1031 depositors.  Vesta lacked the ability to meet its redemption obligations because its owners and managers misappropriated the money themselves and because new client deposits were used to pay off existing depositors. 
 
            The indictment alleged that Terzakis, along with Robert Estupinian, Vesta’s former CEO, and Peter Ye, the former Vice President of Operations, and later President, used the company to defraud Vesta clients of their Section 1031 deposits and obtained money and property, namely Vesta client deposits, by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses.  Among the false promises alleged were claims that Vesta was a safe and financially secure Section 1031 exchange company, that Vesta client deposits would be held by Vesta, and that Vesta client deposits would be returned at the time of redemption.  The indictment alleged that new client deposits were used to pay off existing client obligations, in a Ponzi-like manner, in furtherance of the conspiracy.  The indictment also alleged that the Vesta owners diverted Vesta client deposits to themselves.
 
            In pleading guilty, Terzakis, admitted to Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1349 (Count One); Wire Fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1343 (Count Five); and Money Laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1957 (Count Ten).
                                               
            Co-defendant Peter Ye, of San Jose, pled guilty on June 21, 2010, to three felony counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.  He remains free on a bond.  His related case is CR 10-00044 DLJ.
 
            Co-defendant Robert Estupinian, of San Jose, pled guilty on Feb. 2, 2011, to three felony counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. He remains free on a bond.
 
            Terzakis is currently on home confinement with electronic monitoring, secured by a bond. 
 
            The sentencing of Terzakis and the two related Vesta co-defendants is scheduled for June 28, 2012, before Judge D. Lowell Jensen in San Jose, Calif.
 
           The maximum statutory penalty for the counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343 and 1349, respectively, is 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss to any victim, and restitution. The maximum statutory penalty for money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1957, is 10 years imprisonment, and a fine of $250,000 or twice the amount of the criminally derived property involved in the transaction. The government is also seeking restitution from the defendants in the amount of $24,633,341.34, as well as forfeiture of criminally derived proceeds.  However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C. § 3553. 
 
            Daniel Kaleba is the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Kamille Singh. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Santa Clara County Office of the District Attorney.

             LOS ANGELES – A Carson man is in custody today after being sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for running a $1 million scheme that bilked dozens of victims – including a U.S. Army staff sergeant who was serving on active duty in Afghanistan – who thought they were investing in a legitimate wind energy technology business.

            James A. Rivera, 42, was sentenced late yesterday by United States District Judge Stephen V. Wilson, who remanded the defendant into custody at the conclusion of the hearing. In addition to the 144-month prison term, Judge Wilson ordered Rivera to pay restitution of just more than $1 million, a figure that represents the total amount lost by victims in the case.

            At the conclusion of a jury trial in June 2010, Rivera was convicted of mail fraud and 10 counts of wire fraud Rivera related to the scheme he ran out of the Carson offices of companies Rivera called Apostles, Inc. and Almighty Wind, Inc. Through word-of-mouth, telephone conference calls and seminars conducted over the internet, Rivera solicited investments in his companies, which he claimed would manufacture and market a revolutionary new form of windmill or “wind turbine” that would be used for electricity production. Beginning in 2007 and continuing into 2009, Rivera marketed his scheme by making numerous false statements, including that the Nigerian government had committed to buying more than $1 billion worth of the windmills, that the International Monetary Fund was providing hundreds of millions of dollars in financing for the business, and that a prominent Hollywood director was planning to purchase the windmills to power the movie set of his next production. Rivera also falsely told investors that he held multiple patents on the windmill design and that he would be mass-producing the windmills within several months. In reality, there were no such customer orders, financing arrangements or patents, and the windmill had never progressed beyond the early design stage

            While Rivera touted his financial integrity and used religious rhetoric and imagery to appeal to investors, Rivera failed to disclose to investors that he had eight prior criminal convictions, five of which were for fraud and fraud-related offenses. Nor did Rivera reveal to investors that he was on probation for one of his prior fraud convictions and was on bail awaiting trial on additional fraud charges filed in California state court.

            The investigation of Rivera was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Docket #: 1:10-cr-00090 AWI
 

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today Stephanie Yost, 39, of Tulare, pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and to six counts of wire fraud related to an embezzlement scheme she orchestrated with two coworkers.
 
            This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorneys Mark J. McKeon and Ian Garriques are prosecuting the case.
 
            According to the guilty plea, Yost admitted that between April 2004 and April 2005, she developed a scheme to embezzle money from Faulkner Trucking by preparing duplicate pay checks for herself and co-defendants Vickie Ann Kyle and Dustie Denise Levine. According to court documents, Kyle was a secretary and Levine was a billing clerk at Falkner Trucking. The total loss amount, which will be determined by the court at sentencing, was between $120,000 and $241,000.
 
Yost is scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii on April 2, 2012. Kyle and Levine previously pleaded guilty and are scheduled to be sentenced on February 27, 2012. The maximum statutory penalty for the conspiracy is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for each count of wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentences, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.