Erie Man Sentenced to 33 Months in Jail for His Involvement in a Million-Dollar Mortgage Fraud Scheme
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 25, 2009 |
United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today, June 25, 2009, that Francis R. Conti, a resident of Erie, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court in Erie to 33 months’ in jail and ordered to pay $46,183.91 in restitution on his conviction of conspiracy and mail fraud.
United States District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin imposed the sentence on Conti, age 42.
According to information presented to the court by Assistant United States Attorney Christian A. Trabold, Conti and others conspired to falsify mortgage loan applications for home buyers who could not have otherwise obtained a mortgage. Conti and others also accompanied prospective home buyers to the buyers’ banks and deposited money into the buyers accounts to make it appear as if the buyers had higher account balances.
Ms. Buchanan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General, for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Conti.