The Edmond Sun

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April 6, 2007

6 guilty in Oak Tree home fraud

John A. Williams

A federal jury returned a verdict late Tuesday convicting six people, four from Edmond, in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Those convicted include Brandon L. Baum, 32, of Joplin, Mo.; Joseph Conrad Therrien, 29, of Oklahoma City; and Gayle L. Caldwell, 39, Charles E. Caldwell Jr., 41, Teresa M. Therrien, 32, and Rusty Real Therrien, 33, all from Edmond,

John C. Richter, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma, said the defendants were indicted on 14 counts in November alleging they were engaged in schemes to defraud various mortgage lenders by artificially inflating the sales prices of homes in Edmond’s Oak Tree subdivision and submitting false loan

applications.

“Schemes like these have a corrosive effect on the real estate marketplace. When we discover them — and you may be sure we will — we aggressively prosecute those involved to protect the buyers, sellers, brokers and lenders who play fairly,” Richter said.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Susan Dickerson Cox and Nick Lillard alleged in their case that each of the defendants intended to personally profit by funneling substantial sums of money back to themselves and others from the excess sales proceeds under the guise of remodeling, repair costs or marketing service fees.

Evidence at trial showed nine properties were sold in this scheme, according to a press release from the U.S. attorney’s office.

After a 12-day trial, the jury returned a verdict convicting Baum of 13 counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property. Gayle Caldwell was convicted of two counts involving wire fraud and money laundering.

Her husband, Charles E. Caldwell Jr., was convicted of three counts involving wire fraud.

Joseph Conrad Therrien was convicted of two counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.

Teresa M. Therrien was convicted of two counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property and Rusty Real Therrien was convicted of six counts involving wire fraud and engaging in a monetary transaction in criminally derived property.

At sentencing, each of the defendants face up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and payment of restitution. All of the defendants are awaiting sentencing, which will be set by the court in about 90 days.

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