Six Indicted in Solano County Mortgage Fraud Scheme Involving Losses of Over $1 Million

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today a federal grand jury returned a seven-count indictment charging the following defendants with mail fraud in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme: Temika Reed, 31, of Bay Point; Buena Marshall, 65, of Sacramento; Jake Weathers, 35, of Sacramento; Deborah Loudermilk, 53, of Suisun City; Reginald Dodson Sr., 40, of Tracy; and Kadesta Harris, 57, of Suisun City.

According to the indictment, Reed purchased seven houses in Solano County between October 2006 and January 2007 by falsely claiming she would reside in the homes as her primary residence. The indictment alleges that Reed, along with loan officers Weathers, Dodson, and others, falsified Reed’s income and employment history and concealed her purchase of multiple houses from lenders on successive loan applications.

According to the indictment, the defendants inflated the purchase prices of the properties and diverted a portion of the sales proceeds of each sale to their own use. Harris and others allegedly submitted false demands for repairs and upgrades to the houses that never occurred and used the monies to pay Reed for buying the homes. Loudermilk, a licensed real estate salesperson, allegedly submitted to the escrow company a false demand for repayment of a loan of approximately $123,000. Once the money went into Loudermilk’s bank account, she paid Reed for buying the house. Marshall was a licensed real estate salesperson who was allegedly involved in orchestrating a number of the transactions.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant United States Attorney Russell L. Carlberg is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, the defendants face a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and a three-year term of supervised release. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

The charges are only allegations and each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.