This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Draper man facing criminal charges for allegedly stealing nearly $25 million from the self-directed retirement accounts administered by his company has a tentative deal to plead guilty.
On Thursday, at the start of what was supposed to be a federal court hearing about whether Curtis DeYoung would remain jailed pending trial, his court-appointed attorney, Rob Hunt, said he and the U.S. Attorney's Office had tentatively agreed to a plea bargain and that DeYoung would remain jailed.
U.S. District Judge David Nuffer set a hearing for Monday afternoon at which DeYoung, 60, could change his plea to guilty. Neither Hunt nor Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Strain would provide details of the charge or charges the owner of American Pension Services might plead guilty to, or the recommended sentence.
"Mr. DeYoung can decide to accept or reject the deal up to the hearing," Hunt said.
Strain said details still were pending approval by both sides, though he told Nuffer that the paperwork already was drawn up.
The tentative deal came 10 days after DeYoung was ordered jailed pending trial because of violations of the conditions of his release, including allegations that he had provided a database of information about former account holders of American Pension Services to solicit them to invest in a new real estate fund with which he was involved.
DeYoung is facing 18 charges, 15 of them for wire fraud and three others related to his alleged attempt to hide jewelry, gold coins and gems in the ceiling of a building owned by a company where his ex-wife worked.
DeYoung also was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission over the missing funds. In the lawsuit and the criminal case DeYoung is accused of taking $24.7 million from monies deposited with American Pension Services, which catered to people who wanted self-directed IRA and 401(k) accounts for their retirement funds.
DeYoung allegedly used the money for high-risk investments, some of which were fraudulent, and made loans to friends that were not repaid, and paid himself and his then-wife high salaries. Under federal law, administrators of self-directed retirement accounts are not to touch those funds unless directed in writing by the owners.