The former president and CEO of Jay Peak who was termed by a federal judge the front man for the largest fraud in the state’s history has been released from prison after serving roughly half of his 18-month sentence.
And the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont, which prosecuted the case against him, isn’t too happy about it.
Bill Stenger, 74, was released Wednesday from Federal Medical Center Devens, a prison in Ayer, Massachusetts, and was back home in Newport. His release was first reported by WCAX-TV after Andrew Stenger, Bill Stenger’s son, posted about his father’s release on Facebook.
“Just under 7 years ago a long, complicated journey started for my father and our family,” Andrew Stenger wrote. “I’m extremely grateful to report the journey is finally over. Next stop – large fries at Mc’Ds drive through.”
“Bringing the big man home today,” the son added, with a photo of the two men smiling.
Bill Stenger did not immediately return a Facebook message seeking confirmation of his release.
Nikolas P. Kerest, the U.S. Attorney for Vermont whose office prosecuted Stenger, stated in an email late Wednesday afternoon, “We understand Mr. Stenger has been transferred to home confinement,” referring additional questions on that process to the federal Bureau of Prisons.
“Our understanding is that Mr. Stenger’s transfer to home confinement at this time is based on a statute-based calculation of time in custody, over which the Office for the U.S. Attorney for the District of Vermont has no influence,” Kerest wrote.
Previously, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont “strenuously objected to the prospect of Mr. Stenger’s earlier, discretionary, transfer” for home confinement, according to Kerest.
“While we recognize that Mr. Stenger’s age and lack of prior criminal record made him a reasonable candidate for home confinement,” Kerest stated, “an earlier discretionary transfer to home confinement would have confirmed Mr. Stenger’s long-standing belief that he did no harm, even when he stole millions of dollars from his investors and left debts, unfulfilled promises, and unfinishable projects in his wake.”
Stenger was sentenced in April 2022 to 18 months in prison by Judge Geoffrey Crawford, on a charge of submitting a false document to the government regarding a failed project to build a $110 million biomedical facility, known as AnC Bio Vermont, in Newport.
Stenger reported to begin serving June 7, meaning he has served a little more than nine months of his prison sentence. Prisoners in the federal system need to serve at least 85% of their sentence to be eligible for release.
It’s unclear why Stenger was released after serving about 50% of his sentence, though a federal act that went into effect shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic hit lengthened the time that a prisoner may be placed on home confinement as part of a sentence.
According to his plea deal, Stenger “knowingly and willfully” submitted a document to the government on Jan. 9, 2015, containing false statements relating to the proposed AnC Bio Vermont’s sales projections and business plan.
The AnC Bio project — termed “nearly a complete fraud” by federal regulators — was part of a series of developments in the Northeast Kingdom, including at Jay Peak and Burke Mountain Resort, that Ariel Quiros, Jay Peak’s former owner, and Stenger financed through the EB-5 program over more than a decade.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in April 2016 accused the two men of misusing more than $200 million of the more than $400 million they raised for their projects over the years from EB-5 investors.
Regulators also alleged that Quiros had siphoned off more than $50 million for his own personal use, including paying off a large tax bill and buying a luxury condo in New York City.
Quiros received a five-year prison sentence. A later bid by him to reduce his prison term was rejected by Judge Crawford.