Developer gets another 10-year sentence
Denver real estate developer Erik Osborn was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in community corrections, to run consecutively to a 10-year sentence handed down last month.
Osborn, whose most high-profile project was downtown’s One Lincoln Park condo high-rise, was convicted April 29 of a felony theft charge by a Denver District Court jury.
District Judge Robert Mcgahey Jr. initially sentenced Osborn to four years in prison, to be followed by five years on parole, but suspended that because Judge Sheila Rappaport — who presided over Osborn’s first trial — had sentenced him on April 9 to a 10-year term in community corrections following his conviction in a similar case of felony theft.
“But for that sentence, I would send you to prison,” Mcgahey told Osborn. “Thieves are thieves.”
Community corrections allows inmates to leave supervision for part of the day to work.
Before sentencing, Osborn’s attorney, Shawn Gillum of Gillum Law LLC in Denver, asked for a new trial, saying that Osborn’s previous criminal attorney, Robert McAllister, was “inadequate” in his defense. Mcgahey denied the request.
At the sentencing hearing, Chief Deputy District Attorney Joe Morales submitted a request for $284,200 in restitution to Osborn’s victims. A restitution hearing was set for Aug. 6.
Osborn was indicted last year for the theft of at least $258,000 from a downtown Denver residential condo project, at Glenarm Place and Broadway, that Osborn was working on. The conversion of 1800 Glenarm Place was to be called Mondrian City Homes. Osborn diverted $153,080 in Mondrian funds owed to the joint venture that was redeveloping the building. The indictment also charged the joint venture “is out” another $105,000 owed to contractors on the project who have filed mechanic’s liens to get that money.
One of Osborn’s partners in the project, Michelle Brokaw, CEO of Denver real estate company Fleischer Smyth Brokaw LLC, told the judge at the sentencing hearing that her relationship with Osborn has damaged her business and investors. “I don’t think he will ever stop. … The public is at risk,” she said.
But members of Osborn’s family — including his sister and brother — as well as CPA Greg Taylor and family friend Dr. Gary L. Shoemaker spoke on Osborn’s behalf, saying he’s a good, caring family man who has done a lot of things for the community. They asked for leniency and mercy in sentencing, and said Osborn can make restitution.
“My brother is a gentle, caring man with a family,” said David Osborn, who worked for Erik Osborn for several years. “His sole desire is to uplift.”
Wearing jail clothes and in handcuffs, Osborn briefly addressed the judge, saying he has apologized to people he harmed and asking for the chance to make restitution.
Morales, in his address to the court, said that Osborn feels justified in stealing money from others, and disputes the defense’s and Osborn’s contention that he can repay those he owes money. Morales pointed out that Osborn has $7 million in unsecured debt, $400,000 of which he owes to the Internal Revenue Service.
Recent Denver County foreclosure records also show that HSBC Bank USA NA, as trustee, has filed its intention to foreclose on Osborn’s house at 7 Polo Club Lane in Denver, in lieu of nearly $3 million still owed on the home’s mortgage. Some of the funds the developer took from his projects was used for upgrades to the house, according to charges against him.
Several companies and individuals Osborn did business with also have filed civil suits against him in Denver District Court, mostly for failure to repay debt and fees for work on his projects, and have several million dollars in outstanding judgments against him. United Western Bank alone was awarded $1.14 million in November 2009 for a loan Osborn and his wife, real estate agent Angela Osborn, failed to repay, according to the judgment.
Those judgments remain valid, despite Osborn’s felony convictions.
Osborn’s first conviction and sentence was for the theft of roughly $255,000 in funds from One Lincoln Park and other projects. He faced as many as 24 years in prison.
Filed under: management by Pascal