News Information
- NEWS_POSTED_BY: Haiti Place
- NEWS_POSTED_ON: Dec 18, 2014
- Views : 643
- Category : Diaspora News
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Description :
BY JAY WEAVER AND LANCE DIXONJWEAVER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
12/16/2014 2:37 PM 12/16/2014 9:00 PMIn May, North Miami Mayor Lucy Tondreau talks with the media outside the federal courthouse in Miami. She was found guilty of mortgage fraud on Tuesday. CHARLES TRAINOR JR MIAMI HERALD STAFF
- Location : Miami, FL, United States
Overview
With her familiar smile and charm, Lucie Tondreau broke through the rigid ranks of North Miami politics to become the city’s first Haitian-American female mayor.
On Tuesday, she was knocked off her pedestal as a Miami federal jury convicted Tondreau of using her popularity as a Haitian-American community leader to lure “straw buyers” into a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud scheme during the past real estate boom.
The 12-person jury, which deliberated for only two hours, convicted Tondreau of conspiracy and wire-fraud charges after a two-week trial. The 55-year-old Tondreau, who was suspended from office in May after her election as mayor in 2013, now faces up to 30 years in prison at her sentencing March 20.
U.S. District Judge Robert Scola refused to grant a request by her defense attorney, Ben Kuehne, to let her remain free on bond while awaiting sentencing. Scola said she used her “celebrity” and “hoodwinked” buyers into allowing their names to be placed on bogus loan applications in exchange for kickbacks in a “massive” fraud against eight lenders, including major banks such as Wachovia.