Dwayne Stewart, 44, West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was sentenced by the Honorable Carolyn Nichols to 2.5 to 5 years in state prison followed by ten years of probation and ordered to pay over $86,000.00 in restitution following Stewart’s guilty plea for “stealing” West Philadelphia houses using forged deeds.
Stewart with “stealing” five properties in the City and County of Philadelphia, theft from at least 12 additional victims in fraudulent real estate scams and passing bad checks to victims including the City of Philadelphia Recorder of Deeds Office.
The long term investigation lead by the Southwest Detective Division of the Philadelphia Police Department revealed that houses at 2545 N. Newkirk Street, 916 W. Huntingdon Street, 2613 W. Harold Street, 3025 N. Warnock Street and 2148 Reese Street, West Philadelphia, were all stolen by Stewart from an elderly victim through the creation and recording of fraudulent deeds. Stewart then, in several instances, sold or tried to sell these stolen homes to unsuspecting buyers.
In addition, using both Newkirk St., Huntingdon St. and other properties in Southwest Philadelphia Steward defrauded apartment seekers and apartment owners by unlawfully renting out apartments, accepting deposits and payments for apartments with which he had no relationship. In several cases, without the knowledge of the true owner or the rental agency, Stewart left the unsuspecting tenants stranded with no home.
At the time of his arrest Stewart was charged with :
Forgery (F-3)- 7 counts
Theft-Unlawful Taking or Disposition (F-3)- 13 counts
Theft-Unlawful Taking or Disposition (M-1)- 3 counts
Att. Theft-Unlawful Taking or Disposition (F-3)- 1 count
Theft by Deception (F-3)- 13 counts
Theft by Deception (M-1)- 3 counts
Att. Theft by Deception (F-3)- 1 count
Receiving Stolen Property (F-3)-7 counts
Receiving Stolen Property (M-1)- 3 counts
Deceptive Practices (F-3)- 1 count
Tampering w/Public Records/Information (F-3)- 8 counts
Tampering w/Records or Identification (M-1)- 8 counts
Defiant Trespass (F-3)- 1 count
Securing Execution of Docs (M-2)- 10 counts
Bad Checks (M-1)- 1 count
Bad Checks (M-2)- 4 counts
ADA Matthew Perks of the District Attorney’s Private Criminal Complaints Unit and Detective Angela Torian of the Southwest Detectives Division successfully prosecuted this case.
