Gina Chiles granted delay from prison sentence to watch daughter go for gold

By Mackenzie Brooks | July 17, 2021
Gina Chiles granted delay from prison sentence to watch daughter go for gold
Via @gina.chiles/Instagram.

Gina Chiles, mother of Team USA’s Jordan Chiles, has been sentenced to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for a one-year and one-day sentence on accounts of wire fraud.

The sentence was originally set to begin on July 27, the same day as the women’s team final in Tokyo, but with a recent 30-day delay granted by a federal judge in Portland, Gina now has time to watch her daughter live out her Olympic dream.

According to court documents, Gina had agreed to the one-year sentence as part of a plea agreement from the U.S. District Court in Oregon. She also has to pay over $1.2 million in restitution.

The fraudulent accounts occurred between 2014 and 2018 through Inspire Vision Property Management, LLC – a commercial properties management business ran by Gina. According to court filings by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Chiles “devised and intended to devise a material scheme to defraud clients of Inspire Vision and to obtain money and property by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises.”

Jordan Chiles swings bars during day 1 of the 2021 U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials. (© Amy Sanderson)

As part of Inspire Vision’s services, clients deposited funds into bank accounts that Gina had access to and controlled. The funds were intended to help pay bills, oversee repairs, renovations and overall management control costs. According to court filings, Gina “diverted those client funds, deposited the funds into bank accounts owned and controlled by her, and used the funds for her own personal use.”

Chiles was reported to have diverted more than $1 million in client funds. In addition to putting the money back into her business, at least $300,000 were spent on personal expenses, according to a government sentencing memorandum.

The mother of five could have faced a maximum of 20 years in federal prison, but instead agreed to the plea agreement on March 3, 2020, pleading guilty to one charge of wire fraud. The formal sentence came on Nov. 30.

The specific wire fraud charge came from a transfer back in 2018 of $50,080 from a Washington-based operating account into IVPMC’s Key Bank account in Portland, according to court fillings.

With the formal sentence occurring over a year ago and public record, it is clear the charges being billed as “breaking news” now is because of Jordan’s quick rise to fame and impending Olympic appearance, in addition to Gina initially having to report on the same day as the women’s team final.

The news first came to light when Orange County Register’s Scott Reid tweeted his story on Friday, July 9, sparking backlash from the gymnastics community on the ethics of waiting until now to publish this story, seemingly using Jordan’s name as clickbait, and tagging related parties in his initial tweet sharing the story.

The sentence document stated that Gina “shall surrender for service of sentence at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons before 2:00 p.m. on July 27, 2021.”

Gina must also make $1,218,877.78 in restitution and is subject to three years supervised release after leaving prison.

As for her daughter, Jordan, the Olympic journey continues as she heads to Tokyo with Team USA.

Gina recently commented on the situation on The Today Show, when she joined the five other moms of the U.S. women’s Olympic Gymnastics team on Zoom.

“Every moment I watch Jordan is the most amazing moment as a mom,” Gina said on the time she has before her sentence begins. “I’m looking it as not bitter sweet, but just a sweet period.”