FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - The disgraced founders of Bitwise Industries, Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr., were sentenced on Tuesday following the fall of a "house of cards" that ultimately collapsed in 2023, leading to hundreds of employees being laid off. Soberal was sentenced to 11 years and Olguin Jr. to nine years in prison for "defrauding people out of approximately $115 million," according to the federal Department of Justice. Soberal received a longer sentence for his previous experience as a licensed attorney in California. Prison sentence for Bitwise’s Jake Soberal, Irma Olguin Jr. "This thing was a house of cards long before it finally collapsed in 2023," said attorney Roger Bonakdar, who represents the roughly 900 former employees in the wage theft suit against the former company. "Each different investor that they pulled in was just another patch to get to the next, to get to the next draw, to get to the next loan, to get to the next thing." In a statement following Tuesday's sentencing, the U.S. Department of Justice says the company was crumbling before anyone on the outside was aware - and the owners hid it from public view. The breakdown of Bitwise Bitwise furloughed all its workers in May 2023, affecting nearly 1,000 employees and contractors. Months later, in June, the company filed for bankruptcy, putting an end to a startup that was, according to court records, the biggest to come from California's Central Valley and was supposed to help the less fortunate. Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. appeared in Forbes Magazine and gave Ted Talks, portraying the company as a success. Behind the scenes, the Department of Justice says the company was running low on funds. According to federal officials, in a February 2022 presentation and July 2022 prospectus to investors, the pair represented Bitwise's cash balance to be over $44 million as of the end of 2021. In reality, the balance was less than $12 million. They also represented the company's revenue as more than $58 million - but the revenue at the time was nonexistent. Federal officials report that in June and July of 2022, Olguin Jr. and Soberal falsely represented to a California-based investment firm that Bitwise had secured a $150 million investment from a London-based investment firm - to convince the California-based firm to buy the buildings that Bitwise owned. Months later, Soberal falsely represented to another lender that Bitwise still owned those buildings so he could get a loan for millions of dollars. Officials say months later in March 2023, during a presentation to investors, the pair represented the company's balance as being over $77 million as of the end of 2022. The reality, however, was that the company's balance was less than $5 million. They also reported the company's revenue was more than $143 million while at the time, its revenue was nominal. Officials add Olguin Jr. and Soberal gave investors an altered version of a Bitwise audit previously conducted by an international audit firm to make it look like Bitwise's revenue was 300% higher than the true number. That same month, the pair represented to a long-time Bitwise employee that the company had sufficient resources, encouraging them to make a significant loan to the company. Federal prosecutors say that pattern continued until the end of May 2023, when Bitwise finally ran out of money and the company collapsed. A former Bitwise investor, Brian Maxwell, sent a statement to YourCentralValley.com saying that Soberal showed his family a bank statement showing Bitwise had $65 million "in the bank," while the actual balance in the account was a little more than $3 million. "While Jake and Irma were stealing from my family, they were paying themselves and members of their families six-figure salaries. My family got poorer, theirs got richer," said Maxwell. Prosecutors argued that the defendants knew exactly what they were doing when they stole over $100 million from investors, giving six-figure salaries to family members and friends. What happened in court? "This entire process has been grief and sadness," said attorney Roger Bonakdar. "None of my clients that I spoke with were looking for a pound of flesh. They weren't going to get any joy out of this whatever happened today." Investors meanwhile, continue to try and just pick up the pieces. Some took the stand on Tuesday to detail the millions of dollars collectively invested into Bitwise. Some detailed how the investments and false promises have ruined their retirement, their futures, the futures of their children, and the trust of others looking to invest in the Central Valley. In the courtroom, Soberal and Olguin themselves apologized. However, they admitted to the judge that they 'deliberately' tricked and lied to investors, employees, and the community. They said they did it with good intentions, to make payroll, or to keep the company and the dream alive. However, the federal government detailed the thefts were deliberate: not just to keep the company afloat, but also to buy property, live lavish lifestyles, and pay family, friends, and lovers. Soberal and Olguin Jr. were not taken into custody following the sentencing on Tuesday: they have 90 days to issue an appeal to federal officials. They will also be required to forfeit all assets to cover at least some of the restitution costs.