A former Vermont ski resort president has reached a plea deal over a failed plan to build a biotechnology plant in Newport, Vt., using tens of millions of dollars in foreign investors’ money, the Associated Press reported. William Stenger, the former president of Jay Peak Resort, has agreed to plead guilty to providing false statements and faces up to five years in prison, according to the deal filed in court on Wednesday. Nine other charges were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Stenger is due in court on Friday. Stenger was expected to go on trial in October and is the third man in the case to reach a plea deal. “The Jay Peak developers, including Mr. Stenger, routinely provided the State of Vermont false, misleading, and fraudulent information throughout the course of our dealings. I am pleased Mr. Stenger has taken responsibility for similar deceptive statements to the U.S. government,” said Michael Pieciak, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation. Miami businessman Ariel Quiros, the former owner of Jay Peak and Burke Mountain ski resorts in northern Vermont, changed his plea to guilty last August on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and the concealment of material information. Nine other charges were dropped. Quiros, Stenger and William Kelly, an advisor to Quiros, were indicted over a failed plan to build a biotechnology plant in Newport using millions raised through the EB-5 visa program, which encourages foreigners to invest in U.S. projects that create jobs in exchange for a chance to earn permanent U.S. residency. The AnC-Bio project was designed to raise $110 million from 220 immigrant investors to construct and operate the biotechnology facility, according to proceedings and documents. The investors could qualify for permanent resident status by investing $500,000 in an approved commercial enterprise. About 169 investors invested about $85 million in the project, in addition to paying $8 million in “administrative fees,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
