FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
August 26, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:10-cr-00492 GEB

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Leo Wheeler, 56, of Roseville, pleaded guilty today to one count of mail fraud for defrauding investors in a real estate project.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Russell L. Carlberg is prosecuting the case.

According to the guilty plea, Wheeler defrauded more than 10 investors of hundreds of thousands of dollars by submitting approximately 85 fraudulent invoices for work he falsely claimed he had performed on a 30-lot subdivision known as Creekside Oaks Estates located in Lake County. Wheeler used three fictitious companies, Kenneth Gutman Trucking, SNC Solutions, and California Maintenance, to funnel funds to himself and to other projects. During an interview with an IRS Special Agent, Wheeler admitted he had falsified numerous invoices and wrongly diverted investor funds.

Wheeler is scheduled to be sentenced on November 18, 2011, by United States District Judge Garland E. Burrell, Jr. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a three year term of supervised release. The actual sentence, 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.

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