LAWFUEL.COM -Legal Newswire Service –
LEV L. DASSIN, the Acting United States Attorney for
the Southern District of New York, announced that DOMINICK DEVITO
was sentenced to 51 months in prison today by United States
District Judge BARBARA S. JONES in Manhattan federal court for
mortgage fraud, insurance fraud and obstruction of justice.
According to Counts One, Thirteen and Fourteen of the
Indictment, the charges to which DEVITO pleaded guilty; other
documents filed in the case; and statements made during the
guilty plea and sentencing proceedings:
From January 2002 through November 2004, DEVITO was the
leader of a fraudulent real estate investment scheme that
purchased multimillion-dollar residential properties in various
communities in Westchester County — including Purchase, New York
— with loans obtained through the submission of false and
misleading information to banks and other lenders. DEVITO
identified properties for sale, orchestrated the purchase of the
properties, and performed construction work at the properties.
In addition, from January 2003 through February 2005,
DEVITO engaged in a scheme to defraud insurance companies by
submitting false and misleading insurance claims and supporting
documents for water damage caused by broken pipes at several of
the homes he and his co-conspirators had purchased as part of the
mortgage fraud scheme.
DEVITO obstructed justice in connection with his
sentencing in 2003 in Manhattan federal court for racketeering
and mortgage fraud in an earlier case. Specifically, DEVITO
submitted false and misleading information regarding the value of
his assets and his personal net worth following his sale of a
property located in Purchase, New York.
DEVITO, 45, pleaded guilty before Judge JONES on July
22, 2008. In addition to his 51-month prison term, Judge JONES
ordered a supervised release of 3 years and ordered DEVITO to
forfeit a total of $1.4 million.
DEVITO’s co-defendant JOHN LISCIO was sentenced on
March 31, 2009, to 12 months in prison and three years of
supervised release. LISCIO was also ordered to pay $50,000 in
restitution. DEVITO’s other co-defendant, ROBERT DIDONATO, was
sentenced on April 13, 2009, to 18 months in prison and three
years of supervised release. DIDONATO was also ordered to pay
$18,000 in restitution and to forfeit $112,000. The last
remaining defendant, LOUIS CORDASCO, JR., is scheduled to be
sentenced on May 27, 2009.
Mr. DASSIN praised the work of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation in this case.
Assistant United States Attorney JONATHAN B. NEW is in
charge of the prosecution.
09-151 ###
