A jury found Frederic “Rick” Dryer guilty of 44 felony counts Thursday, but the three-week trial was prolonged several more hours because of confusion over one of the verdicts.
Prosecutors alleged that Dryer, the founder of Englewood-based Mile High Capital Group, had taken more than $34 million from 1,200 real-estate investors between August 2003 and September 2005.
The money was intended for building residential duplexes, of which only 40 were built, and Dryer used it instead for self-promotion, said Joe Morales, the Denver chief deputy district attorney in the DA’s economic-crimes unit.
Dryer was charged with racketeering under the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and theft, 28 counts of securities fraud and 29 theft counts.
Dryer was acquitted of two of the theft counts and 14 of the securities-fraud charges.
Denver District Court Judge Anne Mansfield discharged the jury after the verdicts were read, and each juror was polled on the 60 counts.
The conviction was put on hold after the bailiff informed Mansfield that some jurors, after being discharged, said one verdict might have been erroneously returned. One juror had already left, complicating efforts to resolve the question.
Mansfield determined more than two hours later that the verdict had been issued properly.
Mansfield denied a request by Dryer’s attorneys, led by Patrick Ridley of Ridley, McGreevy & Weisz PC, for a mistrial or dismissal of the racketeering count. The attorneys plan to appeal.
“We are pleased with the outcome, and justice has been served today,” said Deputy District Attorney Kandace Gerdes after the verdict was confirmed.
Dryer, dressed in a light beige suit, was led away in handcuffs to be held at the Denver County Jail pending sentencing, set for Sept. 12, or until his $750,000 bail is met.
The racketeering sentence carries a range of eight to 24 years in prison, but all the guilty verdicts could total about 528 years if served consecutively, Gerdes said. Dryer is not eligible for probation because he has two prior felonies, one in Wisconsin and one in Boulder.
Juror Joe Lambert said the trial was long and difficult but that the jury considered every count in its three-day deliberations.
“The defendant’s future was very much at risk here, and the jury thought very hard on it,” Lambert said.
Alex McCarthy: 303-954-1381 or amccarthy@denverpost.com
