Matt Garner, 34, licensed real estate appraiser, Lexington, Kentucky, was sentenced in federal court to five months in prison and five months home confinement. He was also ordered to pay a $5,500 fine. Garner pled guilty in May of 2017 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agency,

Garner made false statements in connection with appraisals he submitted for use by lenders in connection with federally-backed mortgages.

Garner owned and operated Lexington-based Garner & Associates. Between 2012 and 2016, his company was paid for more than 700 appraisals, on homes being purchased or refinanced in numerous counties surrounding Lexington and Owensboro, Kentucky. In his guilty plea, acknowledged that, in a significant percentage of these appraisals, he falsely certified on federal appraisal forms that he had personally visited the property and conducted the appraisal.  In fact, had paid unlicensed individuals a small portion of the appraisal fee to perform the appraisals.

Senior U.S. District Court Judge Joseph M. Hood sentenced Garner. Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Amy S. Hess, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Louisville Field Office, announced the sentence today.

The Louisville Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ken Taylor and Kate Anderson represented the federal government