Judge rejects plea deal for probation, orders prison for Orem man accused of fraud, sexual battery

Nate Holzapfel was sentenced to prison Friday after a judge rejected terms of a plea deal calling for probation. Holzapfel, who was a former “Shark Tank” contestant, pleaded guilty to fraud and sexual battery involving vulnerable women.

Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

Victims embraced in a Provo courtroom Friday as the man they called a predator, a swindler and a fraud was handcuffed and taken away by a bailiff.

Nathanael "Nate" Reid Holzapfel was immediately taken into custody to begin serving an unexpected prison sentence after a judge rejected probation recommendations from a plea agreement and denied Holzapfel's request to withdraw his guilty pleas.

Holzapfel, 44, pleaded guilty on June 21 to three counts of communications fraud, a second-degree felony, and three counts of sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor, in a plea deal that took into account eight different criminal cases filed against him. In exchange, 17 other charges against him were dismissed.

Investigators say Holzapfel — despite being married — targeted women on dating apps, investigated their financial situations as he developed relationships and honed in on women who were "vulnerable," such as women who recently lost a loved one and were left with insurance money. He then defrauded them, charges say.

His plea bargain with prosecutors included a provision that said he could withdraw the plea if the judge did not sentence him according to their recommendations for probation. But the deal only represents what prosecutors agreed to support.

Fourth District Judge Thomas Low said that agreement allowing Holzapfel to withdraw the guilty plea is "directly contrary to Utah law." He said since the plea arrangements were not approved by him before the plea was entered, Holzapfel cannot withdraw his guilty pleas and he rejected motions to do so by Holzapfel's attorney, Nathan Crane.

Low sentenced Holzapfel to a term of one to 15 years in prison for communications fraud, a second-degree felony, in one case, and to three terms of one year in jail in three other cases for sexual battery, a class A misdemeanor, which he said could be served in prison concurrently with the other sentence.

The judge said if Holzapfel is a good inmate in prison he will likely be out in less than two years and would be able to then work toward paying about $300,000 back to his victims in order to fulfill the requirements of his pleas in abeyance within 36 months — one year less than the plea agreement suggested, but the maximum amount Low said was allowed to impose under Utah law.

Low said he understood the plea deal took a long time to reach, but he said "the treachery and abuse that has occurred also occurred over a long period of time." He said that the impact of the crimes on Holzapfel's victims was not "held in a abeyance."

He said when the plea was entered, he made it clear to Holzapfel that the court was not bound to follow the terms of the plea.

Holzapfel appeared on ABC's "Shark Tank" TV show in 2013 to pitch the Mission Belt, a belt that uses a ratchet instead of a buckle so it is able to adjust to any size. He was a co-founder of the company, but he left nine years ago and has not recently been associated with it.

Read the full story, including accounts from the victims in the case, on KSL.com.