Crime & Safety

College Park Resident to Be Sentenced May 10 in Real Estate Scheme

Along with three others, the 25-year-old man tried to fraudulently sell DC property.

A 25-year-old College Park man is scheduled to be sentenced May 10 for participating, along with three others, in a scheme to fraudulently sell homes in Washinton, DC earlier this year.

Jamaul Roberts pled guilty in February. Also involved are Michael Brown, 41, of Hyattsville; Patricia Mantilla, 35, of Lorton, VA; and Melissa McWilliams, 35, of Chantilly, VA.

According to court records, Roberts identified homes with overdue tax bills and, using sites like Ancestry.com and the city's property tax database, tried to take over DC home titles without the owner's knowledge.

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Most of the victims were elderly or the heirs of owners who had recently died, according to the State's Attorney's office in Virginia.

Brown recruited straw sellers to sign documents and falsely act like the property owners. Mantilla and McWilliams were the settlement agents and also falsified documents. Their scheme cost their victims more than $1 million.

Find out what's happening in College Parkwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Read more about the case on the U.S. Department of Justice's website.


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