Stenger joins Quiros in Kingdom Con venue change request

Two more defendants in a multimillion-dollar fraud case in northern Vermont are asking that their trials be moved out of state.

In motions filed in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Tuesday and Wednesday, William Kelley and William Stenger asked to join the motion filed last week by Ariel Quiros.

In court papers, Quiros' lawyers said the Vermont media have convicted him before his trial.

Quiros, the former owner of Jay Peak ski resort, Stenger, the former president, Kelley and one other are facing charges over a failed plan to build a biotechnology plant using foreign investors' money. They've pleaded not guilty.

A federal court hearing to discuss the call for a change of venue is scheduled for Dec. 20.