Pending Criminal Division Cases
United States v. Leon Benzer, et. al.
Court Docket Number: 2:13-cr-00018 (D. Nevada)
Case Updates
Court Assigned: This case has been assigned to Judge James C. Mahan, U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Nevada, Courtroom 6A, 333 S. Las Vegas Boulevard, Las Vegas, Nevada 89101. Unless noted in an update below, all court events will take place at this location.
UPDATE – June 1, 2017: On May 3, 2017, the Ninth Circuit scheduled oral argument for the case involving Leon Benzer, Edith Gillespie, Keith Gregory, and Salvatore Ruvolo for July 14, 2017, at 9:00 AM in Courtroom 3, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, San Francisco, CA. The consolidated case number is 15-10319.
On August 19, 2015, Leon Benzer filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
On August 6, 2015, Leon Benzer was sentenced to 188 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay $12,228,913.40 in restitution.
On July 20, 2015, Charles McChesney was sentenced to 30 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and was ordered to pay, jointly and severally with his co-defendants, and ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution.
On July 2, 2015, Salvatore Ruvolo filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
On June 26, 2015, Keith Gregory filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
On June 17, 2015, David Ball and Edith Gillespie filed notices of appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
On June 17, 2015, the following defendants were sentenced: Keith Gregory, Salvatore Ruvolvo, David Ball, and Edith Gillespie.
Gregory was sentenced to 120 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $12,604,913.40 in restitution (joint and several with co-defendants).
Ruvolvo was sentenced to 24 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $12,604,913.40 in restitution (joint and several with co-defendants).
Ball was sentenced to 72 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release.
Gillespie was sentenced to 60 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $85,780 in restitution (joint and several with co-defendants).
On May 22, 2015, Barry Levinson was sentenced to 78 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and 100 hours of community service. Levinson was also ordered to pay $243,435 in restitution to client victims, approximately $28K in restitution to the IRS, and $19 million, jointly and severally, in restitution to the HOA victims. . The court docket number for Levinson’s case is 2:14-cr-00010.
On May 21, 2015, the following defendants were sentenced: Ricky Anderson, Maria Limon, Jose Luis Alvarez, and Rodolfo Alvarez Rodriguez.
Anderson was sentenced to 18 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $41,642.49 in restitution.
Limon was sentenced to 6 months in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $24,000.00 in restitution.
Alvarez was sentenced 12 months and one day in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $184,200.84 in restitution.
Rodriguez was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and ordered to pay $119,585.81 in restitution.
On March 18, 2015, Keith Gregory, Salvatore Ruvolo, David Ball, and Edith Gillespie were found guilty by a jury of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Gregory and Ball were also convicted of two counts of wire fraud each; Ruvolo was convicted of three counts of wire fraud; and Gillespie was convicted of one count of wire fraud. Ruvolo was found not guilty of one count of mail fraud.
On January 27, 2015, Charles McChesney, a private investigator who worked for the owner of Silver Lining Construction (SLC), a Nevada-based construction company purporting to specialize in home building repairs involving construction defects, and also a straw buyer and SLC-controlled HOA board member, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud and three counts of wire fraud charged in a January 2013 indictment.
On January 23, 2015, Leon Benzer, the owner of Silver Lining Construction Company (SLC), a Nevada-based construction company purporting to specialize in home building and repairs, including repairs involving construction defects, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, fourteen counts of wire fraud, and two counts of mail fraud charged in a January 2013 indictment, and one count of tax evasion and one count of employment tax evasion charged in a May 2013 indictment. The charges stem from a scheme to fraudulently gain control of condominium homeowners’ associations (HOAs) in the Las Vegas area so that the HOAs would direct business to a certain law firm and SLC, as well as a related tax fraud scheme.
On June 6, 2014, Ricky Anderson pleaded guilty to (Count 1: 18 U.S.C. § 1349) one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
On May 22, 2014, Maria Limon, Jose Luis Alvarez, and Rudolfo Alvarez-Rodriguez pleaded guilty to (Count 1: 18 U.S.C. § 1349) one count of conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
On February 3, 2014, Barry Levinson pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, one count of attempt to evade or defeat tax, and one count of wire fraud; charged in a criminal information. The court docket number for Levinson’s case is 2:14-cr-00010.
For information about the charges in this case, please click here.
Because of the court’s schedule, hearing dates could change on very short notice. If you plan on attending, you may want to contact the Victim Assistance Line toll-free at (888) 549-3945 or email us at victimassistance.fraud@usdoj.gov.