United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that United States District Court Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Scott Usher, age 46, and Robin Usher, age 53, both of Lincoln, Nebraska, in connection with a wire fraud scheme. Scott Usher was sentenced on June 9, 2015, to 84 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $519,230.02. Robin Usher was sentenced on June 10, 2015, to five years’ probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $85,878.55. As conditions of her probation Robin Usher is required to submit to 8 months of home confinement with location monitoring and 12 consecutive weekends of confinement in a detention facility.

Scott and Robin Usher, husband and wife, were convicted in connection with a wire fraud scheme orchestrated by Scott Usher. Scott Usher was convicted of wire fraud as a result of his taking money from private lenders and investors purportedly for the purpose of developing new technologies which could be sold to large companies and governments. Among the numerous technologies Scott Usher represented he had developed were windmills that could operate with assistance from solar energy and designs that could inexpensively desalinate seawater. Scott Usher continually represented he had been in negotiations with companies and private individuals and that large transactions were about to close which would yield millions, even billions, of dollars in profit. He also represented he had been in personal conversations with prominent people ranging from the President and Vice-President of the United States to actor Matt Damon all of whom were supposedly interested in his inventions. All of Mr. Usher’s representations, in fact, were lies. He had not developed the technologies he said he had created, he had not been in negotiations with any companies or prominent individuals and there were no lucrative deals about to close. Scott Usher had simply made those representations to induce lenders and investors, primarily from the Lincoln area, to give him money which he used to support himself.

Robin Usher was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to wire fraud. The Ushers had travelled to Hawaii, using funds supplied by lenders and investors, purportedly for the purpose of meeting with representatives of the Chinese government. Scott Usher had previously represented that the Chinese government was close to consummating a deal with him to purchase the right to use his desalinization technologies. The deal was represented to be worth billions of dollars. Mr. Usher’s representations were entirely fabricated. Following the trip to Hawaii, Scott and Robin Usher attended dinner parties in Lincoln restaurants where Scott Usher told investors and lenders that his meetings with the Chinese had gone well. Robin Usher never contradicted Scott Usher or told the investors and lenders that no such meetings had taken place. Thereafter, an additional $85,878.55 in monies were provided by investors and lenders to Scott Usher. Robin Usher’s failure to disclose the truth about the trip to the Hawaii was, in part, responsible for those additional losses. Scott Usher was immediately remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal following sentencing.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Lincoln Police Department.