Hutchins pleads guilty

Below is an article published on Yahoo without a paywall, the work of Rick Pfeiffer. Read on to find it.

On background is the bottom line: former high-and-mighty businessman John Hutchins is going to jail for what will likely be the rest of his life.

He belongs to that class of people who define business success like our current President: No arrangement should ever be mutually beneficial. The successful person should never enter into a mutually beneficial arrangement but always put one over on the other guy and hopefully cheat the government in the process.

Hutchins was last seen on Facebook in January seeking to purchase a car for $1,000 so he could drive back to Florida. It was a far fall for a guy who used to have multiple classic British sports cars and a current model luxury vehicle as a daily driver and who lived in an almost million dollar home on the escarpment in Lewiston which he attempted to sell to marijuana entrepreneurs from the Tuscarora Reservation who allegedly ended up paying for work on a house they didn’t own.

The unindicted co-conspirator in Pfeiffer’s story is likely Anthony Marsocci, a Rochester-based music promoter who, at various times in the last decade, claimed to own the theater. Marsocci’s wife Stephanie was bar manager for the last run of shows which ended in early 2024.

It is speculative but likely the former theatre manager was approached by investigators and asked what he knew in exchange for not being charged.

Buffalo-based music promoter Anita West gave the Hutchins operation its last shot at legitimacy with artists like Kingfish and Walter Trout in 2022 and 23 but it was a hardsell because Canadian crowds didn’t return post-Covid. Even a show with 600 or 800 tickets sold in the 1,800 seat theatre felt empty. For her last several shows at the Theatre, West told Hutchins he was no longer welcome.

The blue building at 1701 Main St. next to the theatre was also owned by Hutchins and was supposed to be the site of a brew pub with construction beginning in 2017 but never was completed after the city became skeptical of Hutchins ability to gain financing because of poor credit and withdrew funding.

What is not included in the story about the Rapids Theatre is anything on the current state of the once-grand venue.

The city earlier this year purchased it in a short sale from Niagara’s Choice Federal Credit Union. It is included in the group of Bridge District parcels the Restaino Administration is trying to revitalize.

Hutchins, before the foreclosure, and under the cover of darkness because the theatre was in the control of a bankruptcy court trustee, sold tables, chairs, office furniture and anything else he could in 2024.

The lighting, scaffolds and sound equipment are all gone from the barren theater. While Hutchins did fix up the theatre about 20 years ago, industry experts say almost all maintenance has been deferred since the renovations. Current needs in addition to tables, chairs and sound equipment include plumbing, heating and a roof, work that would cost any investor upward of $1 million.

Meanwhile, over the last 8 years or so, whenever the Rapids had a show, the 1701 Main St. property would be opened up after so trash from the show and food trucks could be stashed inside

By RICK PFEIFFER, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.

Thu, March 20, 2025 at 11:59 PM EDT4 min read

BUFFALO — The former owner of the Rapids Theatre has pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal government out of more than $1.8 million in Covid relief program funds.

In a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Lewiston businessman John Hutchins pleaded guilty Thursday afternoon to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud during a hearing in U.S. District Court in Buffalo. Hutchins, 71, faces a maximum possible sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

Hutchins and his co-defendant and business associate Roberto Soliman had been scheduled to stand trial in the fraud and conspiracy case in early January, but those proceedings were postponed after prosecutors filed a superseding indictment in the case in September.

Shortly after the trial was delayed in early January, the presiding judge in the case, District Court Judge John Sinatra, recused himself from the proceedings. He was replaced by District Court Judge Meredith Vacca who further delayed and rescheduled a number of pre-trial hearings in the case.

On March 12, a filing with the federal court clerk indicated that a hearing on a plea agreement for Hutchins would be held Thursday. Charges against Soliman remain pending.

The superseding indictment, filed in September, accused Hutchins and Soliman, 40, of the Falls, of stealing an additional $1 million from a pandemic relief grant program. The pair were accused of additional counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and committing wire fraud and bank fraud.

Hutchins remained charged with making a false statement to the FBI and Soliman remained charged with engaging in monetary transactions with criminally derived property (money laundering).

Both Hutchins and Soliman pleaded not guilty to the charges. They have been free on conditions since their indictment.

The superseding indictment added charges that accused Hutchins and Soliman of filing fraudulent applications for the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) program. The grants available under that program were designed to provide emergency financial assistance as part of the Economic Aid to Hard-Hit Small Businesses, Nonprofits and Venuses Act (Economic Aid Act).

According to the indictment, “the purpose of the SVOG program was to support the ongoing operations of eligible live-event venues (like the Rapids Theatre) and operators affected by the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.” Eligible applicants could qualify for grants equal to 45% of their gross earned revenue.

Grants were capped at no more than $10 million. SVOG funds could be used for specific expenses, including payroll, rent and utilities.

In the original indictment, Hutchins and Soliman, the former chief financial officer of Hutchins’ companies, were accused of defrauding two Covid-related loan programs out of more than $750,000. They were indicted on those charges in March 2022.

Prosecutors charge that Hutchins and Soliman applied for the SVOG grant in April 2021, at a time when they knew they were being investigated by the FBI for ripping off the loan programs. The prosecutors charged Hutchins and Soliman used an unindicted co-conspirator, identified in court papers only as the Rapids Theatre vice president, to hide their involvement in the grant application.

Federal officials with the U.S. Small Business Administration ultimately authorized a pair of grants, totaling roughly $1 million, to be awarded to the Rapids. When the SBA sought an accounting of the grant funds, Hutchins sent them a letter saying he never authorized the grant application.

Federal prosecutors accused Hutchins and Soliman, in their original indictment, of filing fraudulent loan applications under both the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program and the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). Those loans were designed to provide emergency financial assistance as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

Hutchins and Soliman applied for loans for the Rapids Theatre, Bear Creek Entertainment LLC, a resort and conference center, Hutch Enterprises LLC, the Hutchins Agency LLC and CWE Entertainment, Corp. CWE is owned and controlled by Soliman, while the other businesses are owned by Hutchins.

Between March and August 2020, prosecutors said Hutchins and Soliman received four Economic Injury Disaster Loans totaling $749,500.00. The indictment against them charges that Hutchins and Soliman submitted false revenue and expense figures for the businesses to support their loan applications.

Federal investigators with the FBI and IRS said Hutchins and Soliman used the loan proceeds, not for their businesses but for their own personal expenses. Hutchins is accused of making payments on residential properties in North Tonawanda and Lewiston, on a 2020 BMW and a 2020 Cadillac, as well as paying homeowner association fees on a Florida condominium.

Hutchins and Soliman also applied for and received a Paycheck Protection Program loan totaling $74,838.

In November 2020, Hutchins was accused of making false statements to FBI special agents and to an investigator in the U.S. Attorney’s Office. In those statements, Hutchins reportedly denied applying for, or authorizing anyone to apply for, any Economic Injury Disaster Loans or Paycheck Protection Program loans.

The businessman later claimed that he may have made or authorized a PPP loan application for the Rapids Theatre. Federal investigators claim that Hutchins used Soliman, who was, at that time, the chief financial officer for the Rapids Theatre, to launder the loan money to pay personal expenses.