Former Plantation Police Officer Joseph Guaracino Sentenced to 43 Months’ Imprisonment for Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud in Mortgage Fraud Scheme
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Henry Gutierrez, Postal Inspector in Charge, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Tom Grady, Commissioner, State of Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, and Addy Villanueva, Special Agent in Charge, Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE), Miami Field Office, announced today’s sentencing of defendant Joseph Guaracino, a former Plantation Police Department Officer. U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn sentenced Guaracino to 43 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release. Guaracino was also ordered to pay $2,969,439.00 in mandatory restitution to financial institutions. Guaracino was immediately remanded and taken into custody by the United States Marshals Service.
In November 2011, Guaracino pled guilty to a one count Information that charged him with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. His plea came after his trial on multiple counts of mail and wire fraud and false statement counts resulted in a mistrial in September 2011.
According to the charges and other documents filed with the court in connection with the plea, Joseph Guaracino engaged in a scheme to defraud mortgage lending institutions by making false statements in mortgage applications regarding income and occupancy. Many of the homes purchased by Joseph Guaracino were flipped for a profit, but a substantial number went into foreclosure.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation, and FDLE. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Laurie E. Rucoba and Jared M. Strauss, and Senior Litigation Counsel Michael Patrick Sullivan.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
