A change in plea could be coming for the two former CEOs of Bitwise Industries, but it will not happen on Thursday as planned.

Jake Soberal and Irma Olguin Jr. face one count each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The company they founded and led went bankrupt last year, laying off a reported 900 employees.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stanley Boone postponed the Thursday hearing until July 18. He also said “NO FURTHER CONTINUACES WILL BE GRANTED.”

In the request for the delay, attorneys for both sides hinted that a plea deal is imminent. They noted the case produced one million pages of discovery.

“The parties anticipate finalizing and filing plea and charging documents and requesting a change of plea hearing before a United States District Judge. The parties agree that good cause exists for the continuance because the extension is required to allow defense counsel reasonable time to continue their review of the discovery, and for the parties to finalize a pre-indictment resolution of the case,” Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joseph Barton and Henry Carbajal III wrote, along with Olguin attorney Daniel Olmos and Soberal attorney Eric MacMichael.

Previously, the parties anticipated the continuance request from April 4 to Thursday would have been the last.

Only One Charge

Despite the one charge, in court documents filed last November when Soberal and Olguin were arraigned, the federal government accused the pair of altering bank documents to help secure loans from private investors.

GV Wire has documented the fall of the company, which once had an optimistic vision to invest in “underdog” cities like Fresno. The company and its former CEOs had the support of political leaders like Gov. Gavin Newsom and the venture capital community.

The Bitwise board fired Soberal and Olguin in June 2023 after the company laid off its employees. Board members in various court documents said they were duped by the CEOs — who painted a rosy financial picture of the company when collapse was imminent.

The “Bitwise” names have been scrubbed from three of its once-prominent downtown Fresno buildings.

In addition to the bankruptcy case, several investors and employees sued in federal and state courts.

Court documents show the company and creditors reached an agreement with specifics still to be worked out. Nearly all the other cases have been delayed since the bankruptcy filing.