CAMDEN—A mother and daughter from New
Jersey each were sentenced today to 24 months in prison for participating in a
scheme involving New Jersey properties that caused mortgage lenders to release
more than $1.9 million in loans obtained by fraud, U.S. Attorney Paul J.
Fishman announced.
Patricia Smith, 57, and Jamilah Smith,
31, of Irvington, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty in October 2011 to two
counts of wire fraud contained in the superseding indictment against them. They
entered their guilty pleas on the fifth day of trial before U.S. District Judge
Jerome B. Simandle, who also imposed the sentences today in Camden federal
court. Co-conspirator Carol Ashley, 58, of Las Vegas, also pleaded guilty to
two counts of wire fraud that day and was sentenced today to six months of
house arrest with electronic monitoring.
According to documents filed in this
case and statements made in court:
Patricia and Jamilah Smith served as
“straw buyers” to purchase two condominiums each in North Wildwood, New Jersey.
The straw buyers had good credit scores but lacked the financial resources to
qualify for mortgage loans. The Smiths’ accomplices created false
documents—such as fake bank statements, W-2 Forms, and paystubs—to make the
straw buyers appear more creditworthy than they actually were. Ashley falsely
verified to the lenders that Patricia Smith worked for Ashley’s company,
Exclusive Entertainment Production, based in the Los Angeles area.
Once the loans were approved, the
mortgage lenders sent the loan proceeds in connection with the real estate
closings. The defendants’ accomplices used a portion of the proceeds to pay the
Smiths for their roles.
In addition to the prison term, Judge
Simandle sentenced Patricia and Jamilah Smith each to serve five years of supervised
release. Ashley was ordered to serve three years of supervised release. Judge
Simandle ordered to Patricia Smith to forfeit $82,746.80 and pay $892,168.01 in
restitution and ordered Jamilah Smith to forfeit $65,047.70 and pay $647,290.13
in restitution. He also ordered Ashley to pay $892,168.01 in restitution.
A fourth defendant named in the
superseding indictment, Ollie Rudolph Thaxton, pleaded guilty to one count of
wire fraud in September 2011 and is scheduled to be sentenced June 1, 2012.
U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special
agents from the FBI’s Atlantic City Resident Agency, under the direction of
Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark; and IRS- Criminal
Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge JoAnn S.
Zuniga, with the investigation.
The government is represented by
Assistant U.S. Attorneys R. Stephen Stigall of the U.S. Attorney’s Office
Criminal Division in Camden and John E. Clabby of the U.S. Attorney’s Office
Criminal Division in Trenton.
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