State Attorney's Office drops all criminal charges against Colliers real estate agents
Criminal charges previously filed against two prominent Gainesville real estate agents have been dropped by the State Attorney's Office, The Gainesville Sun has confirmed.
It's been more than a year since an armed SWAT team raided the local office of Daniel Drotos and Michael Ryals, whom their former employer accused of stealing trade secrets and clients.
That raid, as well as a yearlong investigation, turned up empty.
The parties have been entangled in several connected lawsuits, all of which have also now been settled or closed as part of an agreement reached through mediation.
"By consenting to mediate the criminal cases, the State Attorney worked with the named victims and the defendants, as well as other interested parties, to reach a fair and just resolution in light of the circumstances surrounding the charges," a prepared statement from the office of State Attorney Brian Kramer said.
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On June 2, 2021, a SWAT team in full tactical gear raided the office of Colliers International at 107 SW Seventh St. in Gainesville. Drotos and Ryals had previously worked for Bosshardt Realty Services.
They were accused by their former employer of stealing clients, trade secrets and thousands of pages of documents during and following their departure from the company.
Gainesville Mayor Lauren Poe, as well as others, argued the raid was excessive, though a Gainesville Police Department investigation found it justified.
Drotos and Ryals were formally charged in February by the state with racketeering, scheming to defraud/organized fraud and theft of trade secrets. Drotos faced an additional charge of offense against intellectual property.
Drotos and Ryals, however, maintained their innocence throughout the process.
Others named on the Gainesville police warrant for the raid were Lauren Edwards, Christian Oldenburg, the managing director of Colliers International Northeast Florida, and former CHW partner Rory Causseaux.
All charges against those individuals have also been dropped.
Fighting it out in court
Following the raid, the parties have been in and out of court for two connected cases, including a battle over owed commissions from past property sales.
In July, an arbitrator ruled that Bosshardt had to pay Drotos and Ryals $1.5 million in back commissions and attorney fees.
Drotos and Ryals had also filed a defamation lawsuit against their former employer, though that too goes away as part of an agreement to squash the criminal charges where former state attorney Rod Smith was the mediator.
"We've resolved our differences and moved on," said Aaron Bosshardt, owner of the realty company.
Though the battle with Bosshardt appears to have ended, Drotos and Ryals are still wrapped up in another federal investigation involving the Alachua County school district.
School officials had accused the agents of inflating the price of land prior to selling it to the district for $3.7 million. Drotos and Ryals' attorney Ron Kozlowski previously said the two served as transaction brokers, which is legal and common in the real estate industry and allows them to essentially work both sides of a deal.
This article originally appeared on The Gainesville Sun: Dan Drotos, Michael Ryals cleared by state after raid, investigation
