Manuel Herrera, 39, Davis, California was sentenced today to serve one year in prison for conspiring to commit wire fraud.
According to court documents, between October 2004 and May 2007, Herrera was an employee of Delta Homes and Lending Inc., a now-defunct Sacramento-based real estate and mortgage lending company that was founded by co-defendant Moctezuma “Mo” Tovar, 50, Sacramento, California. Herrera, Tovar, and other Delta Homes employees and co-defendants agreed to commit fraud to obtain home loans from mortgage lenders. As part of the scheme, Herrera submitted fraudulent mortgage loan applications and supporting documents, which falsely represented the borrowers’ assets and income, liabilities and debts, employment status, citizenship status, and intent to occupy the property. Herrera also provided money to the borrowers in order to inflate their bank account balances. Once the loans were secured, the borrowers returned the money to Herrera. The aggregate sales price of the homes involved in the overall conspiracy was in excess of $10 million. As a result of the conspiracy, mortgage lenders and others suffered losses of at least $4 million.
Herrera is the fifth defendant sentenced as part of the scheme. Co-defendant Tovar was sentenced to four and a half years in prison; Jun Jun Michael Dirain, 47, Antelope, California was sentenced to six months in prison, followed by six months of home detention; Sandra Hermosillo, 57, Woodland, California was sentenced to nine months of home detention; Christian Parada Renteria, 43, formerly of Sacramento, California was sentenced to serve one year in prison.
Co-defendants Jaime Mayorga, 40, and Ruben Rodriguez, 42, both of Sacramento, California were convicted of conspiracy to commit wire fraud at a jury trial. They are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez on December 10, 2019. Each defendant faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.
U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott made the announcement.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian A. Fogerty and Justin L. Lee prosecuted the case.