San Antonio Woman Sentenced to Nearly 30 Years for Foreclosure Scheme

Rosario Divins, a self-proclaimed foreclosure prevention specialist from San Antonio, was sentenced to 350 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for criminal contempt and mail fraud. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Fred Biery ordered that Divins pay $83,600 restitution to her victims. According to John E. Murphy, acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas, Divins was convicted in June of seven counts each of criminal contempt and mail fraud. The jury found that since January 2000, Divins engaged in a fraudulent foreclosure prevention scheme. Testimony during the three-day trial revealed that Divins collected more than $80,000 in cash from individuals in desperate financial situations who responded to her mail-out offering to stop their residential foreclosures. Divins continued to implement her scheme despite three separate sanctions from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas ordering her to stop misrepresenting herself and making false promises to her clients.