DBSI Defendants Detained Pending Prison Designation

BOISE - After a hearing before her this morning, United States Magistrate Judge Candy W. Dale ordered Defendants Douglas L. Swenson, Mark A. Ellison, Jeremy S. Swenson, and David D. Swenson – former executives of Diversified Business Services and Investments, Inc. (“DBSI”) of Meridian, Idaho – immediately detained pending designation by the Bureau of Prisons to federal correctional facilities.  Judge Dale held that because the Defendants had exhausted their appellate rights, the Bail Reform Act no longer applied, and the interests of justice would no longer be served by their continued release.

On April 14, 2014, after a 45-day trial before Chief United States District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, the jury found Defendants Douglas L. Swenson, Mark A. Ellison, Jeremy S. Swenson, and David D. Swenson guilty of 44 counts of securities fraud.  The jury further found Defendant Douglas L. Swenson guilty of 34 counts of wire fraud.

In August of 2014, Judge Winmill sentenced Defendants Douglas L. Swenson to 240 months in prison and to pay $180,632,025 in restitution; Mark A. Ellison to 60 months in prison and to pay $32,158,501 in restitution; Jeremy S. Swenson to 36 months in prison and to pay $32,158,501 in restitution; and David D. Swenson to 36 months in prison and to pay $32,158,501 in restitution.  By loss amount, the DBSI fraud was the largest in the history of the District of Idaho.

By orders in November and December of 2014, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the Defendants to remain released from prison pending their appeal.  On June 25, 2018, the United States Supreme Court denied Defendants’ petition for writ of certiorari, ending their appeal.

Regarding today’s hearing, United States Attorney for the District of Idaho Bart M. Davis stated, “We are gratified by Judge Dale’s decision to immediately detain the DBSI Defendants, pending their designation to the Bureau of Prisons facilities that will house them for the terms of their incarceration.  After four years of freedom and pursuit of their appeal all the way to the United States Supreme Court, that appeal is now over and there was no basis in law for the DBSI Defendants to remain released.  We hope that the incarceration of the DBSI Defendants provides the victims of their crimes some degree of closure, and that restitution payments by the Defendants to the victims may now commence.  I would like to thank the United States Probation Office for their work over the last four years in supervising the Defendants while they were released pending appeal, and the committed law enforcement agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service for their tireless work on this case.”

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