Former Epic Air CEO Fred “Rick” Schrameck has pleaded guilty to a single count of wire fraud, according a statement released by the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon. Schrameck was charged with soliciting customers to purchase and help build experimental aircraft—to the tune of more than $1.4 million each—then misrepresenting how the customers’ funds were being used. The statement says the funds went “to complete existing EPIC LT aircraft, and to support [Schrameck’s] own lavish lifestyle” without customer knowledge or agreement.
The maximum sentence Schrameck could receive is 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years’ supervised release. Sentencing is scheduled for August 14. Schrameck was originally charged in 2015 with eight counts of wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud and six counts of money laundering in federal court. He was arrested in March of that year and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Epic Air went bankrupt in 2009. In 2010, it was purchased by a group of former customers in partnership with China Aviation Industry General Aircraft Company and renamed Epic Aircraft. Epic was sold again, this time to Russian company Engineering LLC, in 2012.
