On February 21, 2012, former attorney, Stephen Gunther will speak to the Tidewater Real Estate Investors Group (TRIG) and tell his story about how he went from a respected attorney and member of the Virginia State Bar to Inmate 75516-083 at Butner Federal Prison Camp. Stephen grew up in Virginia Beach and attended Cox H.S. In 1988, he dropped out of high school and obtained his GED. In 1997, Stephen defied the odds and was accepted to St Thomas School of Law after graduating from Old Dominion University with honors. In 2000, Stephen graduated from law school and passed the Virginia State Bar Exam on his first attempt. The high school drop out had become a lawyer. In 2005, Stephen recognized problems with the firm he was working for and made the decision to leave and open his own firm, Stephen M Gunther, P.C. In 2006, Stephen became the President of the Tidewater Real Estate Investors Group (TRIG). His practice specialized in doing closings for real estate investors. In the summer of 2009, Stephen heard someone enter his office and he went upfront to great them. When he arrived up front, he was met by an FBI agent who wanted to go over four files that had closed three years prior in 2006. Stephen fully cooperated with the agent and actually pointed out problems with the files after reviewing them. On January 7, 2010, the agent showed up again and informed Stephen that they felt as if they had enough information to proceed against him with a four count indictment for wire fraud. Stephen took full responsibility for his actions and those of his staff by accepting a plea agreement offered to him, and pled guilty to one count of wire fraud. Between the plea and the sentencing, Stephen spoke to several businesses and investor clubs throughout Virginia and North Carolina. He tried to use his personal circumstance to help prevent others from suffering a similar fate. On June 21, 2010, Stephen was sentenced to serve 20 months at Butner federal Prison Camp. On December 21, 2011, Stephen was released from BOP custody and has resumed his efforts to educate others by his personal failures.
The program will consist of lessons learned from Stephen’s crime and how it could have been prevented. It will also include reflection of the time he spent in prison as well as a review of current scams going on in today’s real estate market. Stephen’s program is inspirational, informative, motivational, as well as entertaining. Come to the TRIG meeting on February 21st and learn “What Went Wrong” with Stephen and discover how to prevent something similar from happening to you! For more information about Stephen, go to stephenmgunther.com.
