Man sentenced in Las Vegas mortgage fraud case

A man who was indicted in connection with Operation Stolen Dreams, a nationwide initiative aimed at combating mortgage fraud, was sentenced Wednesday to 27 months in prison.

Curtis Briley Jr., 75, was indicted in June 2010 on several charges. He pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud.

U.S. District Judge Kent Dawson sentenced Briley and ordered him to pay about $1 million in restitution.

“Curtis Briley took hundreds of thousands of dollars out of residential real estate by purchasing properties in the name of his shell company, Westside Reinvestment LLC, and flipping them to straw buyers,” prosecutors wrote in a recent court document.

A straw buyer is a person who pretends to be a legitimate buyer for property to conceal the identity of the actual buyer.

Dawson gave Briley, who has been free on his own recognizance, until July 27 to surrender to prison.

Indicted with Briley was escrow officer Brenda Jackson, “who processed Briley’s flips,” according to the recent prosecution document.

The indictment alleged Briley and Jackson began conspiring in 2006 or 2007.

Jackson pleaded guilty in March 2011 to conspiracy to commit fraud, and cooperated against Briley.

Dawson sentenced Jackson, a single mother raising two children, in February to two years in prison for her role in Briley’s scheme.

The judge ordered Jackson to pay about $1.7 million in restitution and gave her until June 18 to surrender to prison.

Natalie Collins, spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney’s office, said federal prosecutors in Nevada have charged and convicted more than 140 people in mortgage fraud cases during the past four years, and most of them are serving time in prison.

In Las Vegas, 123 defendants were charged, convicted or sentenced during Operation Stolen Dreams, which took place from March 1 to June 17, 2010.

Cedric Nelson, the owner of a Las Vegas accounting firm, was indicted in a mortgage fraud case last year. He pleaded guilty in August to two counts of wire fraud and was sentenced Wednesday by Dawson to 18 months in prison.

The judge also ordered Nelson, a former Internal Revenue Service employee who owned and operated Certified Bookkeeping, to pay $435,000 in restitution. Nelson has until July 27 to surrender.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.