All Defendants Sentenced in More Than $20 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme Led by Former Dallas Cowboy Eugene Lockhart

DALLAS—Eugene Lockhart, Jr. was sentenced this week by U.S. District Judge Jorge A. Solis to 54 months in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $2.4 million in restitution following his guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, stemming from his leadership role in a massive mortgage fraud scheme that he and others ran in the Dallas area from approximately 2002 to 2005. Lockhart, of Carrollton, Texas, is the last of 10 defendants who were convicted in the scheme to be sentenced. Lockhart played for the Dallas Cowboys from 1984 to 1990 and used his name and fame, according to evidence in the case, to get business and further the scheme. Judge Solis ordered that Lockhart, who has been on home confinement, surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on January 16, 2012. U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas made the announcement.
Others convicted and sentenced are:

• William Randolph Tisdale, of Dallas, also considered a leader of the scheme along with Lockhart, was convicted at trial on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of bank fraud. He was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $1.1 million in restitution.
• Hubert Jones, III, of Garland, Texas, who acted as a lieutenant for Tisdale, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of bank fraud, and one count of wire fraud. He was sentenced to 58 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $681,545 in restitution.
• Lendell Beacham, of Desoto, Texas, a mortgage company owner, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. He was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $947,700 in restitution.
• Patricia Ortega Suarez, of Dallas, an escrow officer, pleaded guilty to two counts of making a false statement to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $1 million in restitution.
• Michael Anthony Caldwell, of Arlington, Texas, who was a manager for a title company, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to HUD. He was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison and ordered to pay $445,100 in restitution.
• Donna Lois Kneeland, of Grand Prairie, Texas, also an escrow officer, pleaded guilty to one count of making a false statement to HUD. She was sentenced to a three-year term of probation and ordered to pay $135,000 in restitution.
• Bryan J. Moorman, of Mesquite, Texas, who acted as a real estate appraiser, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and was also sentenced to a three-year term of probation. He was also ordered to pay $281,200 in restitution.
• Jermaine Frederick Frazier, of Desoto, who acted as a loan processor and lieutenant for Lockhart, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $2 million in restitution.
• Scott David Eller, 45, of Mansfield, Texas, a CPA, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. He was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to pay approximately $1.7 million in restitution.

Lockhart was involved with real estate entities, some formed by him and Tisdale, which had names that were often derived in some fashion from a reference to the Dallas Cowboys, including America’s Team Mortgage; America’s Team Realty; America’s Team Funding Group; Ace Mortgage; Cowboys Realty; Cowboys Mortgage; and KLT Properties. Tisdale was involved with Pinnacle Development and Realty Corporation; Atilla Capital Corporation; and KLT Properties. Jones was involved with Pinnacle Development and Realty Corporation and Atilla Capital Corporation.
The defendants ran a scheme in which they located single-family residences for sale in the Dallas area, including distressed and pre-foreclosure properties, and negotiated a sales price with the seller. They created surplus loan proceeds by inflating the sales price to an arbitrary amount substantially more than the fair market value of the residence.
Generally, they recruited individuals to act as nominee or “straw purchasers” or “straw borrowers,” promising to pay them a bonus or commission of between $10,000 and $20,000 for their participation in a particular real estate transaction. The conspirators caused the loan applications for each straw borrower to include false financial information, often including inflated false income figures to conceal the borrower’s true financial condition so that the lender would more likely approve the loan. The conspirators concealed from the lenders the true status, financial conditions, and intentions of the named borrowers, knowing that loans would not likely be approved if the lender knew the true role, credit worthiness, and risk of each straw borrower. The conspirators falsely represented in loan documents that the straw purchaser intended to use the property as their primary residence, intentionally concealing from the lender that each straw borrower viewed himself as an “investor,” who never intended to occupy the home.
Some of the conspirators also caused bogus and fraudulent “marketing fees” to be listed on loan closing documents to provide a means for the conspirators to receive surplus/excess loan proceeds.
The scope of the conspiracy involved approximately 54 fraudulent residential property loan closings resulting in the funding of approximately $20.5 million in fraudulent loans. The actual loss to lenders is nearly $3 million.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants, including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
The case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorneys David L. Jarvis and Mark Penley prosecuted.

Three Ketchikan Men Sentenced to Federal Prison for Money Laundering Conspiracy

ANCHORAGE—Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin Feldis announced today that three Ketchikan residents were sentenced in Juneau to federal prison on money laundering conspiracy charges.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess sentenced Ketchikan residents Francisco Arca Seludo to 87 months in prison; Herman Arca Seludo, Jr. to 46 months in prison; and Jeremiah Miguel Perez to 50 months in prison for their roles in a money laundering conspiracy.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack S. Schmidt, who prosecuted the case, the charges arose from state of Alaska drug investigations that resulted in the defendants being charged with distributing methamphetamine. Francisco Seludo, 42, was contacted by the Ketchikan Police Department on November 1, 2011, after receiving a package containing approximately eight ounces of methamphetamine. Herman Seludo, 34, was stopped by Ketchikan Police on December 21, 2010, and police found 20 baggies of methamphetamine inside a jacket owned by Seludo. A search warrant executed at Seludo’s residence revealed three handguns, one of which was stolen, as well as ammunition, drug ledgers, and drug proceeds. While on release, Herman Seludo was arrested again on February 8, 2012, after a search warrant of his residence resulted in the recovery of 26.2 grams of methamphetamine, packaging materials, drug ledgers, drug paraphernalia, a digital scale, and over $1,100 in cash. Jeremiah Perez, 35, was stopped by Ketchikan Police on Feburary 7, 2012, and a search of his person resulted in the seizure of three grams of methamphetamine, along with $980 in cash. All defendants were charged by the state of Alaska with drug distribution.
As a result of the defendants arrests, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a financial investigation of Francisco and Herman Seludo’s and Perez’s bank and wire remittance transactions, which revealed that between January 2008 to November 2011, Francisco Seludo laundered over $400,000; between April 2008 and February 2012, Herman Seludo laundered $41,150; and between June 2010 to November 2011, Perez laundered $44,810. This investigation led to the federal money laundering charges to which the defendants pled guilty. All defendants laundered the drug proceeds in order to promote drug trafficking or to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, and control of the drug proceeds. Francisco Seludo was convicted of state drug charges and was sentenced to serve two years in that case. Herman Seludo was convicted of two state drug charges and sentenced in state court to a composite sentence of four years to serve. Perez was convicted of drug charges and sentenced two years to serve. Judge Burgess made the defendants federal convictions for money laundering concurrent to their state sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.
Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Burgess stated the serious of the offense, deterrence of the defendant and others, the protection of the public, and rehabilitation of the defendants related to their criminal histories as reasons that supported the imposition of the above sentences.
Mr. Feldis commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, United States Postal Inspection Service, and Ketchikan Police Department for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Francisco and Herman Seludo and Jeremiah Perez.

Suspect Wanted for Five Bank Robberies

Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the Northern District of Ohio, is seeking information regarding an individual suspected of being responsible for five area bank robberies since October 26, 2012.
The five bank robberies have occurred at the following locations: Dollar Bank, 5201 Wilson Mills Road, Richmond Heights, Ohio, on October 26, 2012; PNC Bank, 2233 Warrensville Center Road, University Heights, Ohio, on October 30, 2012; Ohio Savings Bank, 14033 Cedar Road, South Euclid, Ohio, on November 19, 2012; Dollar Bank, 6563 Brecksville Road, Independence, Ohio, on November 26, 2012; and US Bank, 2211 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, Ohio, on December 13, 2012.
The subject is believed to be Cetric Sumpter. Sumpter is described as a black male with brown eyes and black hair, 28-years-old, approximately 5’8” tall, and weighing approximately 165 lbs.
Any information regarding the location of Cetric Sumpter should be directed to the Cleveland FBI Field Office at 216-522-1400. Tips can remain anonymous.
A reward is being offered for information leading to the identification and arrest of Cetric Sumpter, the individual believed to be responsible for these five bank robberies.
Any questions regarding this press release should be directed to SA Vicki D. Anderson at 216-522-1400 or vicki.anderson@ic.fbi.gov.
Photos of the suspect, including at robberies, are below.

Robbery at Dollar Bank at 5201 Wilson Mills Rd., Richmond Heights, Ohio, on October 16, 2012
Robbery at PNC Bank st 2233 Warrensville Ctr. Rd. in University Heights, Ohio, on October 30, 2012
Robbery at Ohio Savings Bank at 14033 Cedar Rd., South Euclid, Ohio, on November 19, 2012
Robbery at Dollar Bank at 6563 Brecksville Rd., Independence, Ohio, on November 26, 2012
Robbery at U.S. Bank at 2211 Lee Rd., Cleveland Heights, Ohio, on December 13, 2012

Four-Time Fraudster Sentenced to 44 Months in Prison

BALTIMORE—U.S. District Judge Marvin J. Garbis sentenced Ronald Louis Coleman, age 65, of Baltimore, today to 44 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for using one or more unauthorized credit and/or debit cards. Judge Garbis also ordered Coleman to pay restitution of $102,314.54.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein and Special Agent in Charge Stephen E. Vogt of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to Coleman’s plea agreement, from March through December 9, 2011, Coleman possessed a skimmer device, which he provided to an employee of a popular Baltimore restaurant so that the employee could obtain the credit card numbers from patrons of the restaurant as they paid their bills. The employee skimmed a number of cards each week and then turned the skimmer over to Coleman, who downloaded the information using a computer. Coleman used the information to encode blank cards with the stolen credit card account number and then he and others used the cards to obtain cash at ATMs and to purchase merchandise and services.
During the same time, Coleman directed other individuals to call American Express, posing as an American Express employee, to obtain access to active and closed accounts in the American Express computer system. In this way, Coleman caused American Express to remove holds that were placed on accounts, to issue unauthorized credit cards, and to have those cards mailed to an address provided by Coleman. Coleman removed the cards from the mail, or directed others to do so, and then he and others used the unauthorized cards to make purchases. A search of Coleman’s home on December 9, 2011, recovered three blank cards encoded with different American Express credit card numbers belonging to individuals living outside Maryland. The investigation showed that at least 10 American Express accounts were compromised, and the total loss to American Express is between $70,000 and $120,000.
At the time of this activity, Coleman was on supervised release for a previous federal conviction related to credit card fraud and had been convicted of similar crimes two other times.
Today’s announcement is part of efforts underway by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force (FFETF) which was created in November 2009 to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 U.S. attorneys’ offices, and state and local partners, it is the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory, and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud. Since its formation, the task force has made great strides in facilitating increased investigation and prosecution of financial crimes; enhancing coordination and cooperation among federal, state, and local authorities; addressing discrimination in the lending and financial markets and conducting outreach to the public, victims, financial institutions, and other organizations. Over the past three fiscal years, the Justice Department has filed more than 10,000 financial fraud cases against nearly 15,000 defendants including more than 2,700 mortgage fraud defendants. For more information on the task force, visit www.stopfraud.gov.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the FBI for its work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein praised Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard C. Kay, who is prosecuting the case.