On Dec. 22, 2011, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the sentences of Terrance "Terry" and Sonya "Cheri" Tucker, a Thousand Oaks couple who pleaded guilty to bank fraud in a real estate scheme that cheated homebuyers and investors.
The federal court sentenced the Tuckers to 10 years in prison in 2009 for falsifying the source of down payments on home loans they filed for clients, many of whose homes ended up in foreclosure. The down payments had been made using hard-money loans funded by investors, some of who lost their life savings, according to court documents.
A panel of three judges rejected the Tuckers' appeal of their sentence, which the couple had argued was unreasonable.
"Terrance's sentence was at the low end of the guidelines range and Sonya's was below the guidelines range," the judges wrote in their order. "Both were reasonable."
The Tuckers initially were investigated by the Ventura County district attorney's office after its real estate division received complaints from homebuyers about the couple's real estate business. The case was turned over to the Justice Department and investigated by the Secret Service. (venstr122311)
MORAL
Ten years! That is a long time and the federal prosecutors are still looking at even more cases. They are still looking at 2004 and forward.
TWO PLEAD GUILTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA
FACTS
James Lee Putnam and Alissa Rae Smith pled guilty in federal court in Florence to conspiracy to make a false statement, a violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. United States District Court Judge Robert Bryan Harwell accepted the plea and will impose sentence. .
Testimony presented at the guilty plea hearing established that Putnam conspired with others to accept a payment of $36,500 from the proceeds of a real estate transaction. The payment was not reflected on the settlement statement for the transaction, which was provided to the lender. Testimony revealed that Smith received a payment of over $200,000.00 from the proceeds of a real estate transaction. The payment was reflected on the settlement statement, but was based on a fraudulent invoice.
The maximum penalty Putnam and Smith can receive is a fine of $250,000 and/or imprisonment for five years, plus a special assessment of $100. (usattysc122211)
MORAL
The meltdown is catching a lot of people and it is my opinion a lot of it is due to the “political fallout."
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE.
AN ATTORNEY SHOULD BE CONSULTED IF YOU DESIRE LEGAL ADVICE
