James Gordon Fields, 47, whose last known address is unknown, a man who was a fugitive from justice for more than a year, was sentenced in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia on a variety of fraud charges.
The defendant pled guilty in early 2013 to two counts of bank fraud, one count of making a false statement in relation to a loan, one count of aggravated identity theft, one count of making a false statement under oath in relation to a bankruptcy case, and one count of engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000.
Fields was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.
Fields previously admitted to submitting forged signatures on guarantees for loans;submitting fraudulent documentation showing he was the beneficiary of a $77 million trust, which in fact did not exist; and lying about all of the above during his bankruptcy proceedings.
The defendant also forged documents in September 2007 and March 2008 that caused Wachovia Bank to issue more than $14 million in fraudulent loans. In addition, he admitted that at the time of his arrest, he removed a screen from a second story window and attempted to escape capture by United States Marshals. He was eventually apprehended two houses away.
The investigation of the case was conducted by the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, and the United States Marshals Service. Assistant United States Attorney Randy Ramseyer is prosecuting the case for the United States.
“Mr. Fields repeatedly committed brazen acts of fraud, then tried to flee when apprehended,” United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy said. “He was ultimately brought to justice and held accountable for the tremendous financial loss he caused during his criminal scheme. This office will remain vigilant in our investigation and prosecution of those who commit financial fraud.”
