Home Detention May Be in Lyon's Future

The real estate mogul with the penchant for illegally filming his sexual trysts may soon be going home.

Michael Lyon, formerly of Lyon Real Estate, the Sacramento home-selling empire that bears his name, has spent the past 30 days incarcerated at the Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center, part of a year-long jail sentence the 55-year-old Carmichael resident is serving after pleading guilty March 14 to four felony counts of recording confidential communications without consent.

Lyon entered custody on May 7 and has 182 days remaining on that portion of his sentence, according to Deputy Jason Ramos, spokesman for the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department.

Lyon secretly videotaped multiple sexual encounters with four paid escorts at his Carmichael and Roseville homes over a nearly two-year period ending September 2010. The last instance occurred approximately one month after Lyon had been informed he was being investigated by authorities “and while his representatives were publicly denying such conduct on his behalf,” a Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office sentencing statement reads.

Lyon struck a deal with the district attorney’s office to plead guilty to the charges in return for a recommended sentence of one year in custody and probation.

At the time, district attorney spokeswoman Shelly Orio said her office believed it was unlikely Lyon would have received a state prison sentence if the two sides had gone to trial and Lyon had been convicted of all charges.

The decision fell to Sheriff Scott Jones whether to send Lyon to jail or home detention, and the freshman sheriff surprised some by sending Lyon to the county’s primary custody facility, located in Elk Grove.

The sheriff said he would review Lyon’s case after 30 days in custody “for the potential of him being transferred to home detention or some other form of alternative sentencing,” Ramos said. “…[S]o the sheriff is reviewing options this week.”

The Sacramento Bee reports that the sheriff is expected to send Lyon to his Carmichael home for the remainder of his sentence, where he would be fitted with an electronic monitoring device and allowed to leave his house for work or appointments. With time off for good behavior, The Bee says Lyon’s home detention could conclude by November.

Aside from the illicit tapes Lyon was charged with making, investigators uncovered two decades’ worth of additional video recordings he made and kept of house guests and family friends in compromising situations. That evidence was deemed beyond the statute of limitations for prosecution, inspiring Assemblyman Steve Knight (R-Antelope Valley) to introduce a measure extending the statute of limitations for the illegal use of hidden cameras.

After passing through the assembly earlier this year, Assembly Bill 708 is scheduled for a June 14 hearing in the Senate Public Safety Committee, said Knight's chief of staff, David Orosco.

“The assembly will not see the bill again unless it’s amended in the senate,” he added. “Therefore, if it passes the senate floor the bill goes straight to the governor.”