Mortgage Fraud Defendants Pleading Guilty, Avoiding Jury Trials - washingtonpost.com

Unwilling to test the depth of public displeasure, not to mention the government's evidence, Jackson, Fordham and many other defendants in Maryland's biggest mortgage fraud cases have been making deals of a different sort.

Last month, Fordham pleaded guilty in federal court, days after his wife had done the same. Each admitted playing a key role in the multimillion-dollar fraud carried out under the banner of the Metropolitan Money Store. Each avoided a trial before peers undoubtedly familiar with the troubles besetting homeowners....

Just last week, the Justice Department announced federal charges against five people in what prosecutors say was a $70 million mortgage fraud Ponzi scheme that had at least a thousand victims, many in Prince George's County, which has been hit hard by foreclosures and fraud. A day after the Justice Department announced the charges, one of the defendants, Carole Nelson, was in court pleading guilty to money laundering.