POTSDAM – The owner of the Blue Line Brewery faces up to 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to securities fraud.

Mark Gillis, age 47, of Saranac Lake, New York, pled guilty to securities fraud in connection with a scheme to steal nearly $400,000 from his customers.

Blue Line Brewery, based in Saranac Lake, opened a Potsdam location earlier this year at 43 Maple St.

In 2012, Gillis was a co-owner of Hudson Valley Capital Management, Inc., a securities broker-dealer with offices in Saranac Lake and Croton-on-Hudson, New York. Gillis was a licensed stockbroker and worked out of Saranac Lake.

Gillis admitted to purchasing shares of a stock and then transferring the shares to three Hudson Valley customers at improper markups of up to 280 percent. As a result of the markups, Gillis stole $379,652.41 from the customers. Gillis did this to cover up a nearly $400,000 loss he suffered while trading securities for his own benefit.

Gillis faces up to 25 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of post-imprisonment supervised release of up to 5 years when he is sentenced by Senior United States Judge Norman A. Mordue on April 9, 2018 in Albany. A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is convicted of violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

Gillis will also be required to forfeit $379,652.41 to the United States. The Securities Investor Protection Corporation insured the investors’ losses.

The case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyrus P.W. Rieck.