CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- An ex-convict who attempted to build a c-store empire this year landed back in jail after admitting to violating the terms of his release.
Jerry DeMario Guess was arrested on Oct. 21, a week after CSP Daily News published an in-depth look into his Guess Corp., which said in July it would build or acquire 1,000 c-stores within a year and sought retail operating partners “to own up to 40% of a GP Express” c-store location.
Guess admitted in court Dec. 13 that he had violated a term of his Nov. 6, 2015, release from prison, according to court records. Specifically, he “violated the condition of supervision that states, ‘The defendant shall be prohibited from engaging in any occupation, business or profession requiring the handling of monetary instruments,’ ” documents say.
“His supervised release was revoked on Dec. 13, but a judgment has not been filed yet so there is no indication … how long he must serve,” a source at the U.S. Department of Justice told CSP Daily News.
Documents show Guess had written corporate checks for as much as $35,000 beginning Nov. 30, 2015. The last check on file was written Aug. 10, 2016, around the same time employees of the Guess Corp. began complaining that they were not being paid.
Guess and his corporation allegedly did business in retailing, diamonds, lumber, yachts, beverages and any number of other industries; however, CSP Daily News found no evidence of any product ever being produced or changing hands.
Guess had spent 51 months in prison and was ordered to pay restitution of more than $2.3 million after being indicted in 2010 and pleading guilty to wire fraud and tax charges in October 2011.
So far, there’s no evidence that Guess did, in fact, defraud anyone in the c-store industry.
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