posted April 5, 2007
Former mortgage broker Jay Snyder was given a 36-month term for mortgage fraud on Thursday and her boyfriend, handyman and electrician Mark Wilkins, got 27 months.
Ms. Snyder was ordered to repay some $261,000 to mortgage firms, while Wilkins has to repay $278,000.
Prosecutors said the sentencing range was based on the amount of losses suffered by lenders. It was also claimed that Ms. Snyder was untruthful when she testified for Wilkins at his trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble said the couple made use of an illegal "double HUD" technique in buying houses to fix up.
The prosecutor said Wilkins conspired with Ms. Snyder in giving inflated sales figures so the finance company would loan more than the house was worth. He said Wilkins would not have to put down any down payment and would get cash back.
The prosecutor said the title company would prepare two HUD settlement statements - one with the actual price that went to the seller and one with the inflated price that went to Wilkins and to the finance company providing the money.
Ms. Snyder earlier pled guilty, while Wilkins was convicted by a jury.
Attorney Bryan Hoss argued that the punishment was disproportionate for Ms. Snyder, saying the two women she learned the double HUD technique from - Angela Byrd and Donovan Jean Barnes-Bass of Executive Title Company - got 18 months each.
Ms. Snyder was a court reporter for 10 years before going into the mortgage business in 1999.
She told Judge Collier, "I made a mistake. I got caught up in something I had no business in."
Noting she has a 19-year-old son, she said, "I made a fool of myself and destroyed some relationships."
Wilkins said he "did not knowingly try to deceive anyone. What we did was wrong and I deserve to be punished."
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