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SALT LAKE CITY — A Midvale man who promised to repay the victims of his multimillion dollar fraud scheme could be back behind bars for gambling nearly $200,000 at a Nevada casino shortly after being released from prison, prosecutors say.
Federal prosecutors allege Christopher D. Hales took $96,675 in cash and cashier's checks and obtained $100,000 in casino credit to play at the Green Valley Ranch Casino in Henderson between March 18 and May 13. He reported to his probation officer in April that his only asset was a car, according to court documents.
Hales, 35, was released from prison March 14, having served a little more than half of a 90-month sentence for bilking people and banks out of $12.7 million. He completed a drug treatment program to gain an early release.
U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart ordered him to pay back the money as part of the sentence. At his 2011 sentencing hearing and again in a December 2014 letter to Stewart, Hales vowed to make good on the payments.
"Not only do I want to be a success story and start paying on my restitution right away, but I want to be a successful father, son and person, financially, emotionally, spiritually, in all aspects," Hales wrote from prison.
Prosecutors intend to ask Stewart to send Hales back to prison for three years.
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Mastermind of $12M fraud scheme sentenced to federal prison
A man who masterminded a financial fraud scheme that took people and lending institutions for more than $12 million received a stiff prison term.Hales made numerous trips to Nevada without telling his probation officer, prosecutors say. On one trip to Green Valley in May, he had has father sign for a $100,000 line of credit, of which $30,000 was withdrawn under false pretenses as business expenses for Hale's internet sales company, prosecutors allege.
Court documents show Hales is willing to admit to five of eight alleged probation violations, but not that he used his father to obtain credit under false pretenses.
Before going to prison, Hales had no source of legal income and hadn't had a "legitimate" job since 2006, according to court records. He used the stolen money to live a lavish lifestyle, including throwing $100,000 parties in Las Vegas. A search of his home after his arrest in 2011 turned up more than $28,000 in cash hidden in flower pots.
