Real Estate Mogul Who Pled Guilty to Secret Filming May Be Confined to Carmichael Home

A real estate mogul who pled guilty to secretly filming his sexual encounters with prostitutes may be confined to his Carmichael home, a Sacramento County Sheriff's Office spokesman has confirmed.

Michael Lyon, the former CEO of Lyon Real Estate, pled guilty to four felony counts of surreptitious recording of confidential communications, arising out of his sexual encounters with four separate women, District Attorney Jan Scully announced Monday.

The investigation into the Lyon matter was begun based on disclosures and computer materials provided to authorities by an ex-girlfriend of Lyon. The original court complaint (filed Nov. 10) charged offenses involving three different victims, and offenses which occurred in 2008 and 2009.

At Monday’s court proceeding, Scully filed an amended complaint with a previously uncharged incident, involving a fourth woman, which took place on Sept. 13.

The new count is based on evidence found in computer equipment seized with a search warrant at the time of Lyon’s arrest in November. The newly charged offense occurred about one month after public disclosure that the Sacramento District Attorney’s Office and Sheriff’s Department had begun a joint investigation into Lyon’s possible violation of state law.

In court Monday, Lyon pled guilty to one count for each of the four victims.
Following the pleas, Lyon was sentenced by judge Gary Ransom to a suspended state prison sentence of two years and placed on probation with various conditions including a term of one year in county jail.

The Sheriff's office must now decide whether he spends the time in jail or confined to his Carmichael home. The Sheriff expects to make his decision regarding Lyon within the next couple of days, Dep. Jason Ramos said.

The D.A.’s and Sheriff’s investigation began after federal authorities completed an investigation into possible violations of federal law. The federal investigation was closed without filing any charges.