Second Valley fraudster pleads guilty in $10M real estate scheme with Clovis man
A Central San Joaquin Valley man pleaded guilty Monday to a real estate scheme of about $10 million that involved a previously convicted Clovis man, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Gilberto Barron, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and aggravated identity theft, the office announced in a news release. Barron was described as living in Delano and Las Vegas.
Prosecutors said Barron conspired from about March 2021 to December 2022 to commit the fraud with a federal inmate, Seth Adam Depiano, 44, of Clovis, who at the time was serving a 12-year sentence for a prior fraud of $24 million, according to court records.
The crew, which involved more than just Depiano and Barron, made fake identities of real estate agents and shell companies they used to mirror legitimate agents, according to prosecutors. They marketed the properties online for sale to would-be buyers in the Valley, including some properties whose owners had died.
Barron and others met with the buyers, showing them fake documents, deeds and reports to substantiate the sales, according to prosecutors.
Depiano, Barron and others would take the money from the buyers they had defrauded and launder the cash through casinos in Las Vegas, prosecutors said. They put large amounts of money into gaming machines and then withdrew the money with little or no actual gambling, according to prosecutors. They went on to spend the money on properties for themselves.
Another person involved in the scheme was also sentenced on Monday. Zahria Barber, 28, of Las Vegas, was sentenced to one year in prison for her involvement in the scheme to launder money in the casinos. She was compensated with payments for her living expenses and student loans, according to a news release.
Barron is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 28 and faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison for the counts of wire fraud and money laundering. He faces a mandatory minimum penalty of two years for aggravated identity theft.
Depiano was sentenced in January 2026 and received nine years in federal prison. That was is in addition to the 12 years he was already serving.
This story was originally published June 29, 2026 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Second Valley fraudster pleads guilty in $10M real estate scheme with Clovis man."
