Chula Vista businessman Alan Cassell is scheduled to appear in a Nevada federal court June 1 for his role in a bribery scheme involving foreclosed properties.
Cassell and six other defendants were accused of directing payments to Sergio Barajas, a one-time director of the National Community Stabilization Trust, a non-profit that used federal funds to restore foreclosed properties that were lost in the 2008 housing crisis.
As alleged in the indictment Cassell, doing business as Heartland Coalition and Ignition Ventures, paid Barajas about $185,025 in exchange for receiving about 626 NCST foreclosures and made about $2.8 million from resale of those properties.
According to court records, Cassell pleaded guilty in March as part of a “group plea” agreement.
As part of the deal, Cassell and federal prosecutors stipulated the agreement and obligations under the plea deal are not binding unless Cassell enters a guilty plea and another defendant, Elena Millner, executes her plea agreement with the United States Attorneys Office and pleads guilty.
The maximum statutory sentence is five years imprisonment, a 3-year period of supervised release, a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross gain or gross loss from the offense, whichever is greatest, and a mandatory special assessment of $100.
Cassell was originally indicted in 2017 and pleaded not guilty. That same year he resigned his post as board member at Third Avenue Village Association citing personal reasons.
The Chula Vista resident has stated he was part owner of several Third Avenue properties that ushered in the business district’s resurgence, and most recently he was part owner of The Tavern at the Vogue with former National City councilman Gonzalo Quintero.
