Jeffrey Cobb was sentenced to two years in federal prison for fraud. He appeared in Judge Sandy Mattice’s courtroom on Monday.
Cobb, who worked for A-1 Title in Chattanooga, arranged for money, which was intended to go to sellers, to be transferred from a mortgage company.
Prosecution said Cobb took money from five people. Judge Mattice said he owed Old Republic Insurance approximately $565,000.
Cobb’s defense attorney, Myrlene Marsa, said the government was painting a picture of the money being deposited into a personal account. She said the defendant speculated that a deposit had not come in and, over time, began “knowingly paying bills” from an escrow account and widening the hole. She said he did not realize how much money was missing.
Judge Mattice asked where the money was, to which attorney Marsa responded that all of it could not be accounted for. She said Cobb kept his business afloat with the money. Judge Mattice questioned whether this was actually any different than using the money on a trip to Las Vegas.
Attorney Marsa argued that Old Republic was, at this point, the real victim, and that $500,000 was negligible, only .01 percent of their net worth. She said simply having a felony on Cobb’s record would be appropriate deterrent.
“When I took an oath, I took an oath to protect both the rich and the poor equally,” said Judge Mattice.
A representative from Old Republic said the firm assumed Cobb used the money to live off of and pay his ongoing expenses. He mentioned the defendant having children in private schools.
Cobb apologized for what happened.
“There was nothing malicious in it,” he said. “To be honest, I was scared to death.”
The defendant feared his wife losing their house if he was sent to prison.
“I’m just trying to hold my family together,” he said.
Judge Mattice said that, though Cobb was not a danger to society, a message needed to be sent.
Along with his sentence of 24 months, the defendant is required to pay restitution of approximately $565,000 to Old Republic and $27,000 to an individual.