Developer of failed SLO bowling alley project convicted of fraud over fundraising efforts
A San Luis Obispo jury convicted a local developer of fraud totaling more than $500,000, according to the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Office.
Jeremy Walter Pemberton, 38, was a lead developer for a proposed bowling alley project in downtown San Luis Obispo.
Pemberton “misrepresented the amount of financing he had received from other investors and failed to disclose a default on the lease for 1144 Chorro Street,” formerly the location of Sports Authority, the news release said.
Pemberton’s company, Discovery San Luis Obispo, had promised to convert the building into “into a three-story multi-use facility that included a bar, concert venue, restaurant, and six bowling alleys,” the news release said.
He promoted the project, but never finished it.
According to prosecutors, charges against Pemberton were related to “omissions and misrepresentations” he made while fundraising in 2017.
Jurors found Pemberton guilty of “two felony counts of securities fraud, one felony count of financial elder abuse, and two counts of felony grand theft by false pretenses,” the release said.
“The jury found true an additional allegation that his theft crimes totaled more than $500,000,” the District Attorney’s Office said in the release.
Pemberton is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 7, 2023, by San Luis Obispo Superior Court Judge Timothy Covello, who presided over the trial, the release said.
According to the release, the case was investigated by the District Attorney’s Office’s Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by deputy district attorneys Michael Frye and Ken Jorgensen of the Special Prosecutions Major Fraud Unit.
This story was originally published December 14, 2022 at 6:32 PM.
