Edmund A. Booth, Jr., Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia, announced that the U. S. District Judge, Dudley H. Bowen, Jr., sentenced three defendants, STACEY L. SHEFTON, age 35, MICHAEL D. DUNN, age 41, and WILLIE J. ANDERSON, age 39, in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme that resulted in a loss of over $300,000.

Each defendant was charged with participating in a scheme to defraud a mortgage lender by orchestrating a fraudulent purchase and sale of a property in Alpharetta, Georgia.

Specifically, Defendants arranged to have individuals come to the office of an Augusta closing attorney and pose as the actual owner and purported buyer of that property. That property, however, had already been sold the week before by the legitimate owner.

The mortgage company, not realizing that the property had already been sold, released proceeds totaling approximately $316,000, proceeds that Defendants Shefton and Dunn converted to their own use.

Defendants Anderson and Shefton each earlier pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3. Defendant Anderson, who provided Shefton with the down payment money to complete the fraudulent transaction, earlier pled guilty to misprision of felony in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3.

Defendant Shefton also acknowledged his involvement in an Atlanta mortgage fraud scheme that involved a loss of approximately $726,000. The district judge, noting Shefton’s cooperation with the

Government’s investigation, sentenced Shefton to 48 months imprisonment and ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $1,062,450.80 to the victims of his mortgage fraud activities.

Shefton’s co-defendant, Michael Dunn, was sentenced to fifty-one months imprisonment and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $338,084. Both defendants were sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay special assessments of $100.

Anderson, whose role the Government characterized as much more limited in scope, was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $17,530. Anderson was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $100.

The district court also entered a preliminary order of forfeiture relating to assets previously held by Shefton, assets that included a 2005 BMW, a 2005 Land Rover, a 2006 Mercedes, and $300,000 in cash seized when agents executed a search warrant in the case.

The investigation was conducted by Special Agents Anthony Deprizio and Corenelius Harris of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The Government was represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen K. Marsh.