Glendale woman gets 2½ years for mortgage fraud
Web Producer: Mekita Rivas
PHOENIX (AP) - A 45-year-old Glendale woman who authorities alleged ran a mortgage fraud scheme that led to $17 million in foreclosures has been sentenced to 2 ½ years in federal prison.
The FBI in Phoenix says Michele Marie Mitchell was also ordered by U.S. District Judge James A. Teilborg on Monday to pay $110,490 in restitution.
Mitchell and Phoenix resident Jeremy West Pratt were indicted last year. Pratt pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in January and was sentenced in July to six months in prison. Mitchell pleaded guilty to the same charge in April.
The two recruited people with good credit scores to act as straw buyers to buy homes as investments. Mitchell portrayed herself as a mortgage broker while Pratt claimed to run a construction and remodeling company.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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