Mortgage fraud sentencing postponed

By GAZETTE STAFF Friday, Feb. 29, 2008

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

James J. Lytle

MILWAUKEE — Despite not having been sentenced, James J. Lytle, convicted in a Walworth County real estate scam, went to prison Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Carol Kraft said.

His sentencing hearing Thursday will be postponed while the U.S. Attorney’s Office and a federal judge figure out the total loss from a mortgage fraud scheme Lytle coordinated with others.

Lytle voluntarily turned himself in to U.S. Marshals after Thursday’s scheduled sentencing hearing.

Judge J.P. Stadtmueller delayed the proceedings and asked to see title reports, appraisals, foreclosure documents and other material that might show how much lenders lost and who was victimized.

Lytle, 34, and others fraudulently sold 18 Walworth County properties by inflating the appraisals and selling the homes to straw buyers, people who never intended to live in the homes. Some of the homes were sold to people who unknowingly had their identities stolen, according to federal court documents.

Lytle, formerly of Lake Geneva, will be back in court May 1 for sentencing.

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