San Francisco, California - Jonathan Edward Mills, the former Chief Executive Officer of a San Francisco-based technology company, was sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment yesterday, and ordered to pay $572,039 in restitution for his involvement in a wire fraud scheme, announced U.S. Attorney Melinda Haag, and FBI Special Agent in Charge David J. Johnson.

Mills, 30, pleaded guilty on October 7, 2014, to two counts of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, § 1343. According to the plea agreement, Mills founded Motionloft, Inc., a technology company, and served as its CEO until he was fired in December 2013. In the plea agreement, Mills also admits he falsely told several individuals that Motionloft was going to be acquired by a well-known Silicon Valley multinational corporation, and that their investment in Motionloft would reap massive profits after the acquisition. Mills made these false representations knowing he had no authority to sell a stake in Motionloft, and knowing no acquisition was in the works. When the fictitious acquisition failed to materialize, Mills made another series of misrepresentations, including claiming there was a delay caused by the government shutdown and by the financial institutions. Mills then spent a substantial amount of the monies his victim-investors gave him for his personal enjoyment, including renting a private jet, a penthouse suite, and lavish vacations.

The sentence was handed down by the Honorable Richard Seeborg, United States District Judge. Judge Seeborg also sentenced Mills to a three-year term of supervised release, and remanded him into custody at the time of sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kim A. Berger is prosecuted the case with the assistance of Bridget Kilkenny. This prosecution is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.