After nearly quitting the sport in 2018, Jordan Chiles is one of the six women competing on the U.S. Women’s Olympic Gymnastics Team in Tokyo.
The 20-year-old from Vancouver — who was named after NBA legend Michael Jordan, news station KOIN reported in 2018 — will be competing for gold as her family cheers her on from home. Chiles’ parents, Timothy and Gina Chiles, and her four older siblings are all her biggest fans.
But, Chiles’ mother almost missed her daughter’s moment in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics after she was scheduled to report to federal prison on July 27, the same day as the women’s gymnastics team final.
According to KOIN, Gina Chiles has “pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, and was sentenced to federal prison for one year and one day.”
Chiles, who ran Inspire Property Management LLC, a commercial properties management business, admitted to stealing from her clients and spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on personal expenses through her commercial properties management business, Inspire Vision Property Management LLC, the news station reported.
Gina Chiles Pleaded Guilty to Embezzling Over $1.2 Million From Clients
Federal court documents indicate that Chiles “over the course of nearly 4 years … embezzled from clients” and “had stolen so much she could no longer cover the resulting shortfalls by moving clients’ money around,” according to KOIN.
The outlet reported that Chiles stole more than $1.2 million from clients, including $945,000 from one client, Karla Pearlstein, who helped her start her commercial properties business.
Chiles “has absolutely no shame,” Pearlstein told the outlet. “I mean, she was a total operator. … I just happened to lift the flap of her copy machine. And I realized that she was falsifying bank statements. She had a Key Bank statement and she was, like, taping over the numbers on the statement to show what she wanted it to show.”
In addition to her prison time, the court ordered Chiles to start paying back the $1.2 million when she gets out, KOIN reported.
A Federal Judge Approved a 30-Day Delay for Chiles’ Prison Sentence
While Chiles was originally scheduled to report to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons by 2 p.m. on July 27 to start serving time for her wire fraud charges, on July 14 a federal judge approved a 30-day delay so she could watch her daughter compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, People reported:
In a motion filed July 13 and obtained by PEOPLE, Gina’s attorneys asked the court to allow her to self-surrender on Aug. 26, to give Jordan ‘some additional time to have her mother’s emotional support and guidance during such a monumental time her young life.’ The prosecution did not object to the motion, according to court documents.
Naturally, Chiles wishes she could be in Tokyo watching in person, but “we’re just so grateful she made the team and her dream came true,” Chiles told Clark County Today on July 2. “The fact that the Games are happening is the most important thing. We’ll deal with the heartbreak of not being able to watch her in person.”
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Gina Chiles: Why Is Jordan Chiles’ Mother Going to Federal Prison?