Ronald Joseph Olah, Jr. Sentenced in Connection with Fraudulent Scheme to Develop Fitness Facility

Ronald Joseph Olah, Jr., age 35, of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James J. Brady to serve eight months’ incarceration in a halfway house and two years of probation for his role in a fraudulent scheme to secure financing for a new fitness facility in Baton Rouge.

The sentence arises from an investigation into fraud in connection with an effort by Olah and others to develop a new gym in Baton Rouge, to be called Powerhouse Gym of Baton Rouge. On May 30, 2013, Olah and a co-defendant, Matthew Scott Bernard, were charged by a federal grand jury with bank fraud, making false statements to a bank, and wire fraud. The indictment alleged that in 2011, while attempting to secure financing for a new gym that they sought to develop, Olah and Bernard made numerous false representations to two local banks regarding their personal financial resources, their incomes, and the financial condition of an existing gym that Olah was operating at the time. The indictment alleged that the defendants obtained loans from two different banks and an out-of-state investor, based on their false statements. Bernard pled guilty to bank fraud on August 14, 2013, and Olah pled guilty to wire fraud on November 5, 2013.

Olah appeared before Judge Brady for sentencing, and was sentenced to serve eight months’ incarceration in a halfway house, two years of probation, to pay restitution in the amount of $575,242.82, and to pay a special assessment of $100. Finally, as part of his sentence, Olah has been ordered to forfeit an additional $325,343 in proceeds from the fraudulent scheme.

Olah’s co-defendant, Bernard, was previously sentenced to serve 41 months in federal prison for his role in the scheme.