A man who pleaded guilty to scamming nine people out of more than $1 million in a housing development scheme will serve just 86 days in jail as part of a plea agreement he entered in December.
Weld District Judge Timothy Kerns sentenced 54-year-old Bret Lamperes to 90 days in jail — minus four days for time served — at a sentencing hearing Tuesday. Lamperes will also be required to pay the $1,062,500 he took from potential investors plus interest.
Lamperes was hoping to avoid jail time as part of the plea, but Kerns believed the severity of Lamperes’ crimes warranted more than just the 10-year probation sentence the deal laid out.
“This sentence for the nature of the acts is extremely reasonable, doesn’t begin to provide a level of accountability,” Kerns said. “But it does allow punitive response and incentivize full compliance upon release.”
As part of the plea deal, Lamperes must not have access to, or control of, any assets, funds or financial information of any individual, group or legal entity. He is also required to maintain verifiable W-2 employment and submit a budget to cooperate with an independent financial audit of his financial matters by a third party.
If he breaks any terms of the plea deal, he faces a prison sentence of 18 years.
“You’re in control of your freedom,” Kerns said.
Lamperes’ case dates back to February 2015, when he entered into a business called Investments of Windsor, LLC. Investigators suspect he completed 29 sales contracts but only built eight condos.
Further investigation revealed Lamperes was believed to have stolen more than $1 million from nine investors in the project.
He originally faced five felony charges, including theft, money laundering, tax evasion and two counts of filing a false tax return. He turned himself in to the Weld County Sheriff’s Office for the five felonies in March 2021 and pleaded not guilty in November 2022.
He struck a deal with a judge in December 2023, pleading guilty to one count of felony securities fraud and a 10-year probation sentence to avoid prison time.
Early into Tuesday’s sentencing, several victims spoke about how Lamperes’ deceit and dishonesty over the past nine years had affected them.
One elderly couple said they had to sell their home in Loveland and move after they lost nearly $100,000 investing with Lamperes.
“We had a beautiful home in Loveland that we had designed, built and thought would be our forever home,” the woman said. “And we had to sell. My husband and I had grown up in Loveland and lived there for over 50 years.”
Another victim said what Lamperes had done left the victim cynical and in a state of despair.
“I have unfortunately lost faith in humanity because of this,” the man said. “I know it’s not fair. There are a lot of good people out there. But my ability to trust others has been challenged.”
All the victims who spoke agreed this didn’t happen by accident. They say Lamperes clearly prioritized himself when making decision after decision that led to this point.
“This looked like it was wanton,” one man said. “Not an accident. Not someone making mistakes. This was wanton.”
But, of all of the victims who spoke, none urged for Lamperes to receive a lengthy prison sentence — or any sentence at all. They simply wanted their money back.
Lamperes’ attorney, Kevin Benninger, said sentencing Lamperes to prison — or even jail time — would only hinder his ability to do that.
“If Lamperes were incarcerated, there is a 0% chance anyone would receive a dime,” Benninger said. “It doesn’t make any sense for community. It doesn’t make sense for the victims.”
Benninger went on to argue against the 90-day sentence, referencing a sales job Lamperes recently acquired in California — where he has been residing the past couple of years. Benninger said that if sentenced to any jail time, Lamperes risked losing the job, which Lamperes believes allows him the earning power to pay the more than $1 million in reparations.
But Kerns believed the severity of Lamperes’ crimes warranted some form of incarceration and that avoiding jail or prison time because of the job would “unduly diminish” Lamperes’ behavior.
Kerns even went as far as to cut Benninger off while he was arguing against the 90-day jail sentence, saying he was “struggling more with accepting the plea, not the sanctions of it.”
Ultimately, Kerns did accept the plea deal because he believed it gave the victims the best chance of getting money back from Lamperes.
Kerns also set a review hearing — at which Lamperes must appear — Nov. 21 in Weld District Court. That date gives Lamperes 120 days from his latest possible release from the Weld County Jail to comply with provisions of the plea deal that require Lamperes to disclose his finances.
“If there is a lack of follow-through at that time, you will face the natural consequences of those decisions,” Kerns said.
