Fraud suspect to plead guilty

A third person indicted in connection with a multi-million dollar mortgage fraud scheme will be changing his plea to guilty at the end of August.

Bradley Aydelott has a change of plea hearing set for Aug. 31 at 1 p.m. in Courtroom 1A in Chattanooga before District Judge Harry S. Mattice Jr, according to documents filed in federal court Monday.

Aydelott will plead guilty to counts one and four of the federal indictment, which states that the defendant allegedly obtained financing under false pretenses and falsely represented the employment status and income of borrowers.

In July, Aydelott became the fifth person indicted along with Roger Ritch of Shelbyville, William McMahan, Jonathan Henderson and Carrie Snow, all of Murfreesboro, who were charged in May with bank fraud and money laundering in an alleged scheme involving hundreds of homes in Shelbyville.

Both McMahan and Snow have already changed their pleas to guilty. Snow will be sentenced on Nov. 2 in Chattanooga.

McMahan was present for his change of plea hearing on Monday in Chattanooga, and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 23 before District Judge Mattice.

The federal indictments allege that the five devised a scheme to obtain financing under false pretenses for purchasers of residential properties developed by American Value Homes, a construction company that Ritch owned in Shelbyville.

As part of the scheme, the indictment alleges that the defendants did business as Mortgage Processing Services and Value Title, prepared loan applications containing false information, misrepresented the down payment amount made by borrowers, and falsely represented the employment status and income of borrowers.

According to the Bedford County Sheriff's Department, the scheme involved the sale of houses by Ritch's company totalling approximately $30 million, and foreclosure on the fraudulent loans has resulted in a loss to lenders totaling approximately $2.4 million.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Gary Humble said eariler this month that the fraud count could bring a maximum sentence of 30 years and a $1 million fine and the money laundering charge could result in a maximum sentence of 10 years and a $500,000 fine.

However, Humble doubted that the defendants would receive that much time in prison.

The five are free after signing an agreement which requires a $20,000 bond that can be revoked by a federal judge if the suspects do anything to violate the terms. Even a traffic ticket could place them back in federal custody.