Judge rejects another bid by Ariel Quiros to shorten his prison sentence in EB-5 fraud scandal

A bid by former Jay Peak Resort owner Ariel Quiros seeking to reduce his five-year prison sentence in the largest fraud case in Vermont’s history has been denied for a second time.

Judge Geoffrey Crawford, who sentenced Quiros in April 2022 for his role in the EB-5 scandal that rocked the state, issued a ruling this week in federal court in Burlington rejecting a bid by the man described as the mastermind of the fraud to shorten his time behind bars.

Through his attorney, Neil Taylor of Florida, Quiros had based his argument on a recent change in federal sentencing. That change, the filing stated, applied to offenders with no prior criminal history who were sentenced for nonviolent offenses, which is the case for Quiros.

Taylor contended that Quiros, under the change, was entitled to be sentenced at a lower federal sentencing guideline range. Such guidelines are advisory and judges are not bound by them.

Crawford, in his nine-page ruling, wrote that he had already imposed a prison term below the low end of the federal sentencing guideline range for the case and, if he were to sentence Quiros again, would impose the same five-year term.

“For this reason,” Crawford wrote, “the court will forego the exercise of returning Mr. Quiros to Vermont and obtaining testimony or statements from multiple victims in order to determine whether an adjustment that would not affect the court’s sentencing decision should apply.”

Crawford last year turned down an initial bid by Quiros to reduce his prison sentence. Quiros contended in that request that Crawford had not given enough consideration to his cooperation with prosecutors.

The 67-year-old Quiros is serving his sentence at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Florida . With time off for good behavior, his current projected release date is Jan. 30, 2026, according to the federal Bureau of Prisons website.

Quiros and two other men were indicted in May 2019 for their roles in a project to construct a biomedical research facility in Newport, known as AnC Bio Vermont.

The developers raised more than $80 million from foreign investors, who put up at least $500,000 each seeking permanent U.S. residency through the federal EB-5 visa program aimed at promoting job creation in underdeveloped and rural areas.

Read the story on VTDigger here: Judge rejects another bid by Ariel Quiros to shorten his prison sentence in EB-5 fraud scandal .