Randall J. Miller; Chad J. Miller; Jeffrey De Laveaga; Jeffrey Puzzullo

U.S. SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION Litigation Release No. 26498 / March 9, 2026 Securities and Exchange Commission v. Jeffrey Puzzullo, No. 1:26-cv-01738 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 3, 2026) Securities and Exchange Commission v. Randall J. Miller, Chad J. Miller, and Jeffrey De Laveaga, No. 1:25-cv-02702 (S.D.N.Y. filed Apr. 1, 2025) SEC Obtains Partial Consent Judgments Against Legacy Cares Defendants The Securities and Exchange Commission today announced that, on March 5, 2026, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York entered a partial judgment by consent against Jeffrey Puzzullo, in an alleged municipal bond offering fraud. Additionally, the Court entered partial judgments by consent against Randall (“Randy”) J. Miller, Chad J. Miller, and Jeffrey De Laveaga on July 16, 2025, in connection with previously filed fraud charges . According to the SEC’s complaints, in August 2020 and June 2021, Randy Miller’s nonprofit company, Legacy Cares, issued approximately $284 million in municipal bonds through an Arizona state entity to finance the construction of a multi-sports park and family entertainment center in Mesa, Arizona. Limited offering memoranda for the 2020 and 2021 offerings indicated that investors were to be paid from revenue generated by the sports complex, and included revenue projections that were multiple times the amount needed to cover payments to investors, according to the complaints. The complaints allege, however, that the defendants fabricated or materially altered documents, including letters of intent and pre-contracts with sports clubs, leagues, and other entities to use the sports complex, forming the basis for those revenue projections. As alleged, the sports complex opened in January 2022 with far fewer events and much lower attendance than expected under the offering memoranda’s false projections, and the bonds defaulted in October 2022. The SEC’s complaints charged Randy Miller, Chad Miller, De Laveaga, and Puzzullo with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. All four defendants agreed to bifurcated settlements, including judgments that permanently enjoin them from violating the charged provisions of the federal securities laws and from directly or indirectly participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any security except for purchases or sales for their own personal accounts. Under the terms of the bifurcated settlements, disgorgement, prejudgment interest, and civil penalties will be determined by the court upon motion by the Commission. In a parallel criminal proceeding, United States v. Randy Miller and Chad Miller , 25 Cr. 138 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 31, 2025), Randy Miller and Chad Miller pleaded guilty and were sentenced on September 9, 2025 to six and five years in prison, respectively, for securities fraud and aggravated identity theft. In addition to their prison terms, Randy Miller and Chad Miller were sentenced to three years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit $7,289,134.89 and $4,798,980.19, respectively. On February 2, 2026, Randy Miller and Chad Miller were ordered to pay restitution, on a joint and several basis with each other and with Puzzullo and De Laveaga, of $228,260,356.19. De Laveaga and Puzzullo have each also pleaded guilty in separate parallel criminal proceedings— United States v. Jeffrey De Laveaga, 25 Cr. 127 (S.D.N.Y. filed Mar. 25, 2025), and United States v. Jeffrey Puzzullo, 25 Cr. 188 (S.D.N.Y. filed Apr. 24, 2025). On January 28, 2026, Puzzullo was sentenced to time served and one year of supervised release, with restitution to be determined by the Court. De Laveaga is awaiting sentencing. The SEC’s litigation is being led by Jonathan Grant and William Salzmann of the Enforcement Division’s Public Finance Abuse Unit under the supervision of Jason Bussey of the SEC’s San Francisco Regional Office. The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Resources <ul class="field