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    • Ex-CEO Dan Price accused of raping woman at Palm Springs hotel
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    Ex-CEO Dan Price accused of raping woman at Palm Springs hotel

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    A former tech CEO has been indicted on charges that he raped a woman at a Palm Springs hotel in 2021.

    Dan Price, founder and former CEO of Seattle-based Gravity Payments, was indicted by a Riverside County grand jury in September on two counts of rape, one of which has since been dismissed, court records show. He appeared in court last week and posted $55,000 bail. The arraignment is scheduled for January 10.

    “As I said when these false allegations were reported in the media over two years ago, I have never physically or sexually abused anyone,” Price said in a statement. “I will fight these charges and prove my innocence in court.”

    Palm Springs Police Department officers responded to the Ace Hotel on April 16, 2021, on a report of rape, a department spokesperson previously said. The accuser, model and artist Kacie Margis, later went public as part of a 2022 New York Times investigation into Price. (The Desert Sun does not identify people who say they are victims of sexual violence unless they choose to make their identities public.)

    According to a report in the New York Times, Margis said she used edible cannabis for insomnia before Price tried to initiate sex. She refused and said she was going to bed. The New York Times reported that as she fell asleep, she said she felt him penetrate her. She pretended to be asleep, afraid he would kill her if she tried to stop.

    She said she waited a few minutes after he finished before retreating to the bathroom and confronting him, according to the New York Times. The news outlet reported that she “fled home” after the effects of the cannabis wore off before contacting police.

    Palm Springs police said they submitted their investigation to the Riverside County district attorney in 2022 and recommended charging Price with rape of a drugged victim. Prosecutors have not said why they waited two years to make a decision.

    In the Sept. 13 indictment, Price was charged with two felonies: rape of an intoxicated person and rape of an unconscious victim. The former charge has since been dismissed, for reasons unclear from court records. The latter remains pending.

    The Public Prosecution Service did not want to comment on the case.

    Price’s attorney, Vicki Podberesky, said in a statement that there was “no credible evidence” to support the accusation.

    “While we applaud the district attorney’s decision to dismiss the intoxication rape charge, as further facts come to light it will become clear that Mr. Price is innocent of the remaining charges,” she said. “We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against this accusation, and we are confident that Mr. Price will ultimately be exonerated of any wrongdoing.”

    Price became known for paying his employees a minimum salary of $70,000 per year, and cutting his own salary to do so. His social media posts often went viral for his stances against corporate greed.

    Still, he left Gravity Payments in 2022 after receiving questions from The New York Times as part of his investigation. He said at the time that he had become a distraction and had to focus on fighting the false accusations made about him.

    Sam Morgen covers the city of Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Reach him at [email protected].

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