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Mass. sober home owner pleads guilty to fraud after years of suspicion
Daniel Cleggett operated sober homes in Boston, Wakefield, Quincy, and Weymouth. He also defrauded a federal loan program to fund his lavish lifestyle, prosecutors said.
A Kingston man long suspected of using his Boston area sober homes and other businesses to commit financial scams pleaded guilty to multiple federal charges Friday, officials said.
Daniel Cleggett, 38, formerly of Braintree and Quincy, pleaded guilty to multiple charges related to his involvement in four fraud schemes involving his sober homes, the Mass Save Program, and mortgage lenders. He lived a lavish lifestyle funded by a federal loan program related to COVID-19 pandemic relief, prosecutors said.
Cleggett will be sentenced in March on 25 counts of wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud conspiracy, one count of mortgage fraud conspiracy, six counts of money laundering, and three counts of making false statements to a mortgage lending business, according to U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy.
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Cleggett founded A Vision from God LLC, established in 2016, which operated sober homes in Boston, Wakefield, Quincy, and Weymouth. The homes operated under the names Brady’s Place, Lakeshore Retreat, and Lambert House. His co-conspirator and associate Nicholas Espinosa, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to similar charges, managed “the day-to-day affairs” of the homes, federal prosecutors said.
The pair, along with a sober home client, also conspired to defraud a New York-based family trust that was funding the client’s room and board at Brady’s Place in Quincy. They would overcharge the trust by up to $12,500 monthly and issue “refund” checks to further the fraud, prosecutors said.
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From 2019 through 2021, Cleggett also purchased three properties in Weymouth and Boston to be sober homes, but submitted false information indicating the properties would be primary residences, according to prosecutors.
Sober homes are not licensed or funded by the state, according to the Massachusetts Alliance for Sober Housing. Instead, the organization internally certifies sober living homes.
Prosecutors: federal loans funded luxury hotel resorts
Cleggett received a total of $794,900 from three Economic Injury Disaster Loan applications that falsely denied involvement in illegal activity, prosecutors said.
He used the money for EZ-Pass bills, gym memberships, pet expenses, and airline tickets. He also funded vacations to Yellowstone, Montana, and Aruba, as well as luxury hotel resort stays for him and his girlfriend, including spa fees and a wine and caviar dinners. He used more loan funds for $37,997 in wedding expenses.
Cleggett also pleaded guilty to fraudulently earning millions in funding through the state’s Mass Save Program, which is a public/private partnership that funds energy conservation projects and energy improvements. Using four different businesses, Cleggett received millions for residential insulation work and billed the vendor company for permits that weren’t actually obtained. Two of his businesses were banned from participating in the program until he opened another business and received a total of $954,443 in payments, prosecutors said.
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Previously, The Boston Globe published two investigations into problems at his sober homes, including when the bones of a missing client were found in the backyard of one of the homes.
The wire fraud and conspiracy charges carry a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. He could face up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release, and a $1 million fine for the mortgage fraud conspiracy charge. The unlawful monetary transactions charge carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.
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