The former president of the Maysville Sewer and Water District was sentenced Thursday to probation after he pleaded guilty in December to corrupt business influence.James E.A Fort Wayne title insurance broker pleaded guilty Monday in Allen Superior Court to misappropriating more than $2.7 million.
As part of a plea agreement, Joseph A. Garretson, 36, of the 12200 block of Covington Manor Farms Road, pleaded guilty to conversion or misappropriation of title insurance escrow funds, corrupt business influence and unlawful loan origination activities.
If a judge accepts the plea agreement, Garretson will serve no more than 12 years in prison and have to pay a fine of no less than $5,000.
He will be sentenced in April.
Garretson is accused of arranging mortgage refinancing loans for a number of area clients and then not using the money to pay off the initial loans, causing mortgage holders to default, according to court documents.
According to terms of the plea agreement, Garretson must transfer any interest he has in any bank accounts in his name toward making restitution, and he must provide a complete accounting of his assets to the Indiana Secretary of State’s Securities Division and the Indiana Department of Insurance.
As a condition of probation, Garretson cannot work at any financial institution making mortgage loans, nor can he handle any money held in trust, according to court documents.
And he won’t face additional charges if he provides a “cleanup” statement to state investigators, according to court documents.
When Garretson was making mortgage refinancing loans through his company, Fort Wayne Mortgage, 8321 Illinois Road, he was barred from acting as a loan broker.
Allen County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Michael McAlexander took a call from a man expressing concern about how long it was taking for his previous mortgage to be paid off after he refinanced using title insurance, settlement and escrow services from Garretson and Fort Wayne Title, 3614 New Vision Drive.
McAlexander realized he also had used the services of Fort Wayne Title and, after contacting his original mortgage holder, found his loan also had not been paid off using the proceeds of the refinancing, according to court documents.
The criminal filing details more than a dozen other instances from January 2006 to November 2009 in which Garretson allegedly failed to pay off mortgage loans, leaving customers on the hook for the remaining original loan amounts.
Along with taking steps toward turning over any profit as part of making restitution, Garretson must also help identify and prosecute anyone who may have been involved, according to court documents.
