Daniel Cleggett, the operator of several sober homes and insulation companies in Massachusetts, was sentenced to six years in federal prison for his role in multiple fraud schemes. The sentencing took place in Boston’s federal court, where U.S. Senior District Court Judge William G. Young also ordered Cleggett to pay $1,856,329 in restitution and forfeit $1,544,185. After pleading guilty in December 2024 to charges including wire fraud conspiracy, mortgage fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to a mortgage lender, Cleggett faced sentencing following his March 2023 arrest.
Nicholas Espinosa, who managed daily operations at the sober homes and acted as a co-conspirator with Cleggett, pleaded guilty in October 2024 and is scheduled for sentencing on January 22, 2026.
Cleggett founded A Vision From God LLC (AVFG) in November 2016. AVFG operated sober homes under various names such as Brady’s Place, Lakeshore Retreat, and Lambert House across Boston-area communities including Quincy and Weymouth. According to prosecutors, Cleggett and Espinosa conspired with a client to defraud a New York-based family trust by submitting inflated invoices for room and board at Brady’s Place—overcharging by up to $12,500 per month—and then issuing “refund” checks back to the client.
Between October 2019 and December 2021, Cleggett used straw purchasers like Espinosa to acquire properties intended for use as sober homes while falsely claiming they were primary residences on mortgage documents.
In addition to his sober home business activities, Cleggett operated several insulation contracting firms that participated in the Mass Save Program—a partnership funded through utility bills paid by Massachusetts residents that supports energy efficiency projects. Through companies such as Green Save Energy Corporation and Environmental Construction Objective Inc., Cleggett received millions of dollars from a lead vendor company under Mass Save but billed for permits that were never obtained. As a result of these actions between 2018 and mid-2021, both companies were terminated from the program in June 2021 and Cleggett was banned from further participation.
Despite this ban, Cleggett continued participating using new entities—Insulation Situation LLC and Green Giants LLC—with straw owners listed on paperwork. These efforts allowed him to obtain an additional $945,473 from the same lead vendor company even after being banned.
On April 1, 2020—during the COVID-19 pandemic—Cleggett submitted three Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications to the Small Business Administration for AVFG as well as two other businesses: Daniel Cleggett Sole Proprietorship (which did not exist) and Green Save. He secured $792,106 in loans despite falsely denying involvement in illegal activity on his applications. Prosecutors said he spent tens of thousands of dollars from these funds on personal expenses such as travel—including trips to Yellowstone National Park and Aruba—hotel stays with spa services and luxury dinners; gym memberships; pet costs; car rentals; EZ-Pass tolls; airline tickets; wedding expenses totaling nearly $38,000; among other uses unrelated to business needs.
The case was announced by United States Attorney Leah B. Foley alongside officials from the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation unit and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Division. Local police departments provided assistance during the investigation.
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