Man Pleads Guilty to a Crime Committed While in Jail

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that William L. Toth, Jr., 42, of Orchard Park, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara, to conspiracy and mortgage fraud. The charges carry a maximum penalty of 35 years in prison, a fine of $1,250,000 or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gretchen L. Wylegala, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant, who was sentenced in September 2009 to a 52 months in prison on other criminal charges, admitted that he took part in a scheme to try to get a sentence reduction under false pretenses. Toth agreed to pay $10,000 to another person, Royce Garrott, in order to get Garrott to arrange for a fictitious sentencing reduction motion. Garrott recently pleaded guilty to fraud in connection with this motion. Toth also admitted submitting false tax returns and income information in order to allow his wife to get a mortgage on an expensive new home, a crime that took place before he was sentenced in September 2009.

This mortgage fraud charge and law enforcement action is part of President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. President Obama established the interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. The task force includes representatives from a broad range of federal agencies, regulatory authorities, inspectors general, and state and local law enforcement who, working together, bring to bear a powerful array of criminal and civil enforcement resources. The task force is working 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.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Richard W. Kollmar, and special agents of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Charles R. Pine, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office.

Sentencing is scheduled for August 24, 2011 at 12:30 p.m. EST, in Buffalo, N.Y., before Judge Arcara.