had been investigated by the federal government for two years for falsely inflating the prices of houses. In a plea agreement, GDC "agreed in principle" to make a restitution fund for those who bought homes between January 1, 1982 and December 31, 1989. It would later file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in April. It was decided that Chairman David F. Brown and President Robert F. Ehrling would be prosecuted separately from the company. Both had resigned a week prior to the company, pleading guilty to mail fraud. Both Ehrling and Brown would be convicted in August 1992 and sentenced on January 6, 1993. Ehrling would receive 40 counts of fraud and a 10 year prison sentence while Brown got a maximum five year sentence, along with a conspiracy charge. Their convictions and sentencing would come along with two other corporate executives, Torre DeBella, senior vice president of marketing and Richard Reizen, the marketing vice president. DeBella was sentenced to 8 years in prison and 40 counts of fraud, while Reizen got a maximum 5 year sentence and a charge of conspiracy. Functional assets held by GDC in various cities were turned over to their respective governments thereafter. Subsequent to the indictments and convictions of senior management, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals exonerated the men, reversing their convictions and directing that all charges against them be dismissed (see US v. Brown, 79 F.3rd 1550 (1996) for a complete discussion of the case and a general exoneration of General Development Corporation. Succession Atlantic Gulf Communities was created with GDC's bankruptcy. Ehrling was released from prison in 1996 after his convictions were overturned via appeal. Once leaving prison, he reconnected with Reizen, who had also been released from prison after an appeals court ruling. The two would get into real estate development once again and buy over 3,000 vacant lots from Atlantic. It was part of a plan by Atlantic to get $200 million to sell off half of the 87,000 acres and 9 water processing plants it had, but this idea "never fully materialized," with Atlantic filing for bankruptcy protection in 2001. New Vista Properties would end up being created after these purchases from Atlantic. Communities developed by GDC Port Charlotte, Florida North Port, Florida Port Malabar, now a subdivision in Palm Bay, Florida Port St. Lucie, Florida Operations As each community began to be developed, the developer built the roads,