DENVER-
Four people were convicted Tuesday of felonies in a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme involving the historic Redstone Castle near Aspen.
Norman Eugene Schmidt of Denver was convicted of 37 felony counts, including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering, said John Harrison, a spokesman for the Internal Revenue Service. A trial in U.S. District Court for Schmidt and three others lasted about six weeks, including two weeks of jury deliberations.
Charles Franklin Lewis, of Littleton, was convicted on 10 felony counts covering the same charges as Schmidt; George Alan Weed of Benton, Ill., was convicted of mail, wire and securities fraud, while Duane Smith of Colbert, Wash., was convicted on three security fraud counts.
A jury also acquitted Schmidt on five counts, Lewis on 13 counts, Weed on 25 counts and Smith on 14 counts.
Schmidt’s wife, Janice McLain Schmidt, 69, of Denver pleaded guilty to securities fraud and criminal forfeiture and was sentenced in August to nine years in prison.
IRS agents seized the 42-room castle in the mountains near Aspen in March 2003 while investigating a high-yield investment fraud scheme that affected more than 1,000 investors.
Investigators also seized 60 bank accounts, eight NASCAR race cars, a race truck and related vehicles and items. The seized assets were worth a combined $24 million, U.S. Attorney Troy Eid has said.
Another suspect, Peter Moss, is a fugitive and is believed to be overseas, U.S. attorney’s spokesman Jeff Dorschner has said.
The Redstone Castle, in the Crystal River Valley about 170 miles west of Denver, was built by Redstone founder John Cleveland Osgood in 1902.
The castle was purchased for $6.3 million in 2000 by a group of investors that included Norman Schmidt. It was sold at auction in March 2004 for about $4 million.
It will reopen for tours on Friday.
