Previous 5Linx Executives Declined An Offer By The USA Federal Government

The three men accused of stealing $4 million from the investors of a company they founded, walked out of federal court Monday saying they are ready to go to trial.

The three top executives of 5LINX – Craig Jerabeck, Jeb Tyler and Jason Guck – declined an offer by the federal government. The next step is for prosecutors to take this case to a grand jury to decide what, if any, criminal charges should be considered.

Defense attorney, Matt Parrinello said they have a strong case to prove.

“We think it is in our best interest to have the case go to grand jury and proceed forward ultimately with a trial,” Parrinello said. “Our clients are anxious to get this case moving and moving along – their reputations are at stake.”

Jerabeck, Tyler and Guck are all charged with wire fraud and conspiracy. The feds say the 5LINX executives stole $4 million from investors between 2009 and 2015.

A federal complaint claims the men set up fake shell companies, and added themselves as contractors to be paid directly.

However, defense attorneys paint a far different picture, saying the three executives did not commit fraud, but were rather the victims of greedy investors.

“This is a story about some guys who became very successful at a business and after the business fell apart, everybody was scrambling around for what is next,” defense attorney James Nobles said. “The investors put in $5.5 million and got over $12 million back. They were offered $16.5 million in cash and did not take it. This is a story about corporate greed, but it was the investors, not the founders.”

Attorneys said there are over 100,000 pages worth of documents of evidence pertinent to the case, including emails and bank records.

“This is a business that was in business to make money,” Parrinello added. “They did it the right way and got paid for doing it the right way.”

“I see investors who are greedy and ran the company into the ground when they wanted to get paid at intervals that were really not appropriate payouts,” James Nobles echoed.

In 2012, 5LINX was ranked number one on the Rochester Business Alliance’s 100 fastest growing privately held companies in the region. That same year the state comptroller toured the 5LINX facility.

If convicted, the three men face 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000 each.

Source: www.13wham.com