Bitwise founders’ criminal trial delayed again in Fresno as lawyers negotiate plea deal

The criminal case against disgraced Fresno entrepreneurs Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin, founders of Bitwise Industries, has been continued until July 18 to allow more time for negotiating a plea deal.

What that plea deal might look like is still unclear, including whether it involves any prison time, restitution or probation.

Soberal and Olguin are each charged with one count of conspiring to commit wire fraud, a crime that carries a heavy penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

During a federal investigation, Soberal and Olguin told the FBI they forged bank statements , misled investors and inflated the company revenues as they tried to salvage their startup company.

The collapse of the company caused the loss of 900 jobs — and federal prosecutors allege it cost investors and others $100 million.

The pair pleaded not guilty Nov. 10 in U.S. District Court and were due back in court for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, but U.S. Magistrate Stanley A. Boone approved a request for a continuance. This was the third and last continuance Boone said he would grant.

Court documents show Soberal and Olguin’s defense attorneys need more time to pour over more than 1 million pages of facts in the case that includes detailed financial records, text messages, emails and other correspondence, and interview reports.

The defense attorneys also made it clear they are moving towards resolving the case before it gets to the jury trial phase.

“The parties have met and conferred on several occasions regarding the evidence in the case and the terms of potential plea agreements,” according to court documents. “In the interim, the parties anticipate finalizing and filing plea and charging documents and requesting a change of plea hearing before a United States District Judge.”

Representing Olguin is Daniel Olmos, a partner with Nolan Barton Olmos & Luciano in Palo Alto, and Soberal’s lawyer is Eric H. MacMichael, a partner in the San Francisco firm of Keker, Van Nest & Peters.

Prosecuting the case is Joseph D. Barton and Henry Z. Carbajal, assistant U.S. attorneys.

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