Md. Man Who Sold House He Didn't Own Sentenced To 16 Months
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A man federal prosecutors say fraudulently sold a house owned by a man who was out of the country caring for his sick mother has been sentenced to 16 months in prison.
Forty-two-year-old Emmette Brown of Glenn Dale, Maryland, was also ordered to pay $178,000 in restitution to the homeowner at sentencing Friday in federal court in Washington.
According to government evidence, the owner of the home in northwest Washington traveled to Russia in 2005 to take care of his mother. Prosecutors say Brown used forged documents to get control of the home and sell it, making a profit of $178,000.
When the victim returned to the United States after his mother died in 2009, he found his home gutted and that he no longer had legal control of the property.
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