Ira Gaines, a Valley resident who had been slated to go on trial in federal court in May related to an alleged stock manipulation scheme, has entered a guilty plea after vigorously fighting against the charges since he was indicted in 2021.
Gaines, 74, appeared before U.S. District Court Chief Judge G. Murray Snow on Friday to formally enter his plea. Gaines pleaded guilty to the sale of unregistered securities, a class D felony offense. He had been slated, along with co-defendant Sue McCluskey, to stand trial on May 2 to face multiple charges, including conspiracy, securities fraud, transactional money laundering, concealment money laundering, and aggravated identity theft.
According to the plea agreement, Gaines is to be sentenced to probation, and agrees to pay restitution amounting to $98,614.70 to the victims of the scheme. Federal authorities in return agreed to dismiss the original indictment in the case along with the other charges after his sentencing hearing, and Gaines no longer will go on trial, though at this point McCluskey is still scheduled for the May 2 trial date.
Gaines' sentencing date has been set for June 26.
Read more of this story from the Business Journal.
