Jesse Caine Brocius, 40, of Las Vegas, pleaded guilty today to devising a bank fraud and money laundering scheme through which he stole nearly $400,000, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas A. Trutanich for the District of Nevada.
Brocius pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey to an indictment charging him with one count of bank fraud and one count of money laundering. He is scheduled to be sentenced on September 21, 2020.
According to court documents and admissions that Brocius made in court, between January 12, 2015 and February 10, 2015, he obtained a stolen check made payable to a family trust, in the amount of $391,636. Before cashing the stolen check, Brocius had applied to the IRS for an employer identification number falsely claiming that he was a trustee of that family trust. He also created a false Living Trust Agreement identifying him as its trustee. On February 10, 2015, Brocius opened two bank accounts in the trust’s name, depositing the stolen check into those accounts. Within four months, Brocius depleted all of money he had stolen: between February 10, 2015 and June 8, 2015, he spent it on personal expenses, such as luxury hotels, or withdrew the funds as cash.
At sentencing, Brocius faces a maximum statutory penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine for bank fraud, and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for money laundering. Any sentence, however, would 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.
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Lopez is prosecuting the case.
