A Florida man who served his prison sentence handed down more than three years ago for his role in the EB-5 fraud that rocked Vermont is now seeking to shorten the length of his court-ordered supervised release.
An attorney for William Kelly filed a motion this week in federal court in Burlington asking Judge Geoffrey Crawford to end Kelly’s three years of supervised release a year earlier.
“Mr. Kelly has used this experience to become a more responsible and accountable person,” Robert Goldstein, Kelly’s lawyer, wrote in a court filing. “He has demonstrated the stability and commitment to live a law-abiding life and would be grateful for the opportunity to continue doing so without the restrictions of supervised release.”
Neither Goldstein nor the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont, which prosecuted the case, could be reached Friday for comment.
Crawford sentenced Kelly in April 2022 to 18 months in prison after he pleaded guilty to two charges: conspiracy to commit wire fraud and concealment of material information.
The judge also ordered Kelly to serve three years of supervised release following his prison sentence. The terms of Kelly’s supervised release include regular check-ins with his probation officer and travel restrictions.
Kelly, according to court records, was a key adviser to Ariel Quiros, the former owner of Jay Peak ski resort, and an “assistant in executing decisions” who later took the lead in developing what regulators have termed a “Ponzi-like” scheme.
Kelly was indicted by a federal grand jury in Vermont in May 2019 along with Quiros and Bill Stenger, Jay Peak’s former president and CEO, for his role in a failed biomedical research facility planned for Newport.
More than 160 foreign investors seeking green cards in exchange for their investments each put at least $500,000 into the proposed $110 million facility known as AnC Bio Vermont.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission later termed the project “nearly a complete fraud,” leaving the investors out of their investment and no way to meet the job creating requirements to secure their U.S. residency through the EB-5 visa program.
Prosecutors termed Kelly the “consummate fixer” who worked at trying to “outwit” regulators.
Stenger was sentenced to 18 months in prison for his role in the case and has since been released. Quiros was sentenced to a five-year prison term that he continues to serve.
Kelly, according to his attorney’s recent filing, in addition to serving out his prison sentence has roughly one year remaining of his three years of supervised release.
Kelly, now 76, suffers from several medical conditions, including chronic diabetes and heart disease, the filing stated.
“Since returning to the community, Mr. Kelly has worked diligently to rebuild and contribute positively,” his attorney wrote in the motion. “His family, church, and community have all been vital in his transformation, and he takes pride in trying to give back to his community in meaningful ways.”
Also, Kelly has been making his required monthly payments on the roughly $8.3 million in restitution that was part of his sentence, the filing stated.
“Mr. Kelly also intends to continue paying restitution going forward; indeed, these payments are deducted from his social security benefits,” the filing stated.
The document does not specifically state how much Kelly pays monthly toward his restitution. However, other court filings show that the minimum payments were to be 10% of his gross earnings.
Crawford has made no ruling on Kelly’s motion for early termination of his supervised release and it’s not clear when that would take place, or if a hearing will be held on the matter.
