Stevie Perkale Lee (also known as Steven P. Lee), 38, Weddington, NC, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina, to serve 56 months in federal prison. Chief Judge Robert J. Conrad, Jr. also ordered that the defendant be immediately taken into custody, finding that he was both a flight risk and an economic danger to the community.

In a federal criminal bill of information filed in June 2010 the government charged that Lee, as President of "VP Companies USA," and "Arcadian Residence & Resort," fraudulently solicited over $1.5 million from investors and buyers for a luxury condominium project, known as "Arcadian Residence & Resort" (Arcadian) which was to have been built in Concord, North Carolina, next to the Lowe's Motor Speedway. Lee was also charged with failing to file tax returns for the years in which he collected the investor funds. On June 9, 2010, Lee entered a plea of guilty as charged.

According to official court documents, Lee marketed "Arcadian" as a luxury condominium project in Concord, NC to be built next to the Lowe's Motor Speedway. From
about June 2007 through about January 2009, from his principal offices of "VP Companies USA" and "Arcadian," located in the Ballantyne area of Charlotte, Lee fraudulently solicited over $1.5 million from investors and buyers for the project. Court documents state that Lee used investors' money to fund his own lavish lifestyle never developing "Arcadian," while his investors lost their money.

U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tompkins of the Western District of North Carolina announced the sentence.

U.S. Attorney Tompkins is joined in making the announcement by Roxanne Vaneekhoven, Cabarrus County District Attorney, Joe Campbell, Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI's Charlotte Division, and Jeannine Hammett, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation Division.

The case was handled for the government by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt W. Meyers of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte.