Pere Marquette developers will appeal their federal fraud convictions

Two disgraced Peoria hotel developers convicted earlier this month on federal fraud charges have filed to appeal their judgments in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh District.

Monte Brannan, 71, and Gary Matthews, 81, both filed separate notices to appeal their convictions to the Seventh District, with Matthews filing his appeal April 18 and Brannan filing his appeal April 22. The two are seeking to overturn their convictions for defrauding investors who gave the two money to help with redevelopment of the Hotel Pere Marquette in Downtown Peoria.

Briefs in the case are required to be filed by June 3, with the federal government given one month to respond with their version of events. No court dates have been set.

Brannan and Matthews were indicted in December 2020 on charges that they moved nearly $14 million in hotel money into their own bank accounts for their own uses. The scheme was detrimental enough to the property that it eventually went into foreclosure, with the city of Peoria on the hook for around $8 million in back taxes.

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After almost three years of delays, a trial in November 2023 led to a jury finding the pair guilty on 18 separate felony counts. Both maintained, even at sentencing, that they didn't do anything wrong and that they only sought to provide a fancy new hotel for Peoria to be proud of.

However, Central District Chief Judge Sara Darrow said the pair had been motivated merely by self-preservation of their ill-gotten gains and that they weren't victims, but rather, perpetrators of the scheme.

Matthews was the ringleader of the scheme and received the harsher sentence of just over three years in prison – 40 months – and was asked to reimburse those affected to the tune of $8.1 million. Brannan received a 24-month sentence and was required to pay $4.7 million in restitution.

Both will likely serve their sentence in a minimum-security facility in Pekin, close to their families and allowing them access to needed medical care.

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Hotel Pere Marquette developers to appeal fraud convictions