Conspirator in Fraud Scheme pleads guilty

Freddie Young, age 44, from Jackson, pleaded guilty on February 5th to two counts of using false pretenses to acquire more than twenty thousand dollars. Prosecutors allowed Mr. Young to plea to a lesser charge and dropped the third charge of racketeering.

Assistant prosecutor Nick Mehalco Jr. stated that seven four thousand dollars was seized from Mr. Young as part of the investigation and will be dispersed among the victims who can be identified.

Mr. Young admitted to working with several other individuals in a scheme to defraud mortgage lending institutions. He further admitted to hiring a female co-conspirator to forge tax returns in order to qualify a straw-buyer who did not qualify for the property.

Mr. Young admitted that he also worked with co-conspirators to defraud mortgage lending institutions by the use of inflated property values throughout the Jackson area. The properties were purchased and then allowed to go into foreclosure. Mr. Young purchased three properties and in one of the cases an appraiser valued the property at fifty nine thousand dollars and a straw buyer purchased it for ninety nine thousand dollars.

All individual conspirators in the case have been apprehended and are awaiting trial.

Mr. Young is scheduled to be sentenced on April 1st. He faces a maximum sentence of ten years for each count against him and a fifteen thousand dollar fine.