BOSTON, Mass. - A loan originator was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for his role in a mortgage fraud ring that conducted 21 fraudulent property transactions in the Greater Boston area involving 10 mortgage lenders and more than $10.6 million in loan proceeds.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Richard DesLauriers, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division; Robert Bethel, Postal Inspector in Charge of the United States Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division; William P. Offord, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Division; Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino; and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis, announced that JERMAINE BLAKE, 23, of Mattapan, Massachusetts was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr. to 30 months imprisonment, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release. BLAKE pled guilty before Judge O’Toole to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and thirteen counts of wire fraud on March 10, 2010.

At the plea hearing in March, the prosecutor told the Court that had the case proceeded to trial the Government’s evidence would have proven that in or about 2005 and 2006, BLAKE participated with others in a conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders in connection with certain property transactions in and around the Boston area. BLAKE acted as a mortgage broker in the underlying scheme to defraud. BLAKE prepared several mortgage loan applications containing false representations for certain property transactions and caused these applications to be submitted to mortgage lenders. As a result, the mortgage lenders wired funds, via interstate wire, to a bank account of a Boston attorney responsible for closing the loans.

This defendant is part of a large mortgage fraud case in which 10 other defendants were charged. The following five defendants were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud following a seven-week trial: ERIC L. LEVINE of Brookline; J. DANIEL LINDLEY of Jamaica Plain; ERNST APPOLON of Braintree; DANIEL APPOLON of Dorchester, and LATOYA HALTIWANGER of California. LEVINE and LINDLEY were also convicted of money laundering following this trial.

Defendants LEVINE, LINDLEY, and HALTIWANGER face up to 20 years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 on each count of wire fraud. For the conspiracy, they face up to five years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. On the money laundering counts, LEVINE and LINDLEY face up to 10 years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine.

Defendant ERNST APPOLON was sentenced by Judge O’Toole to 120 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release on October 20, 2010.

Defendant DANIEL APPOLON was sentenced by Judge O’Toole to 42 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release on October 18, 2010.

Defendant SAMUEL JEAN-LOUIS was sentenced by Judge O’Toole to 22 months in prison, to be followed by 2 years of supervised release on October 18, 2010.

Co-defendants ANDRE JUNIOR LAMERIQUE, WIDNER LAMARRE, and JEAN NORISCAT pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and several counts of wire fraud. LAMERIQUE, LAMARRE, and NORISCAT each face a maximum of 20 years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release and a $1 million fine on each count of wire fraud. For the conspiracy, they face up to five years imprisonment to be followed by three years of supervised release. NORISCAT also pled guilty to several counts of aggravated identity theft and faces a mandatory two years imprisonment for each of the identity theft counts in addition to any other sentence imposed.

Defendants who have not yet been sentenced have been scheduled for sentencing as follows: LINDLEY, October 27, 2010; LAMARRE, October 28, 2010; NORISCAT and HALTIWANGER, November 1, 2010; LAMERIQUE, November 9, 2010; and LEVINE to be determined.

Co-defendant RALPH APPOLON is scheduled for trial in February 2011.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Internal Revenue Service, with assistance from the Boston Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Victor A. Wild and Ryan M. DiSantis of Ortiz’s Economic Crimes Unit and Mary Murrane of Ortiz’s Asset Forfeiture Unit.

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Mortgage fraud is a key focus of the Department of Justice who in November 2009 created the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The task force works to improve efforts across the federal executive branch, and with state and local partners, to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, combat discrimination in the lending and financial markets, and recover proceeds for victims of financial crimes.

 

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