TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

13 Indicted In Housing Fraud Scheme

ADVERTISEMENT

By JOHN W. ALLMAN and ELAINE SILVESTRINI, The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 13, 2007

TAMPA - A former University of Florida football standout and a former Hillsborough County sheriff's corporal were among 13 people indicted Wednesday in the theft of funding meant to help house Tampa's most needy residents.

The indictments ended a yearslong investigation into allegations that three former Tampa Housing Authority employees had embezzled $125,862 in federal funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The employees - Carlton Miles, 37; Calvin Coleman, 43; and Mario Lovett, 29, all of Tampa - are accused of recruiting 10 friends and family members to pretend to be landlords in HUD's Housing Choice Voucher program, formerly known as Section 8, so they could receive, deposit and share subsidy checks meant to pay rent.

Miles is a former linebacker who played for the Gators in the early 1990s. Coleman resigned from the sheriff's office in 1994 while under investigation for propositioning another man to have sex. He later rescinded his resignation and said he was set up by other law enforcement officers.

Authorities say 10 bogus landlords received checks ranging from $1,458 to $10,732 during an eight-month period from March 2004 to March 2005.

Robert E. O'Neill, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, whose office is prosecuting, called the allegations "deplorable."

Section 8 tenants often cannot afford housing and depend on the government to help offset the cost. Housing authority applicants often wait months, even years, for assistance.

"That money is there to help those people," O'Neill said late Wednesday. "If people are stealing it, we have to do our best to protect them."

2 Pleaded Not Guilty

Miles and Coleman appeared Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Thomas B. McCoun III and pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to steal government money.

They also are charged with a separate public corruption offense of stealing from the housing authority.

If convicted, the conspiracy charge has a maximum five-year prison sentence and $250,000 fine. The maximum penalty for the theft and public corruption charge is 10 years and a $250,000 fine.

Coleman is employed by a telemarketing company. His attorney, Mark P. Rankin, declined comment Wednesday until he could speak at length with Coleman.

Miles is employed by Tampa Marine Institute.

After the hearing, his wife, Lorena, told a reporter: "He's innocent of these charges."

Lovett, 29, did not appear in court. He has accepted a plea agreement and will receive a court summons at a later date, said Steve Cole, U.S. attorney's office spokesman.

Per his agreement, Lovett pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy and faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, $250,000 fine and up to three years of probation.

Others charged Wednesday were: Jeffery Larkins, 41; Joenathan Haile, 39; William Reeves, 25; and Mary Barker, 48.

Haile works for a Brandon car dealership. Reeves works at the University of South Florida Sun Dome. Barker is employed by the Hillsborough County School District.

Larkins and Reeves also pleaded not guilty. Haile and Barker have yet to enter a plea.

Attorney Rochelle A. Reback, who represented Barker at the hearing, said Barker was a properly qualified landlord.

"This may be a terrible misunderstanding or a simple mistake," Reback said. "I need to spend some time learning the facts."

Miles, Larkins and Haile have a status conference Jan. 24 before U.S. District Judge Susan C. Bucklew. Coleman, Reeves and Barker have a status conference Jan. 16 before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Kovachevich.

Six other people also are accused in the two indictments of having posed as landlords to receive and deposit federal subsidy checks. They did not appear in court Wednesday, but were identified as: Jonathan Denson, 37; Brian Montgomery, 37; Koungnum Brown, 30; Kinta Starling, 29; Jose Oliver, 31; and Adrian Mosley, 29.

Oliver is in Florida state prison on an unrelated charge, Cole said.

The other five defendants are expected to turn themselves in or be arrested, he said.

Complex Scheme Detailed

The indictments lay out a complex scheme by Miles, Coleman and Lovett to embezzle money by entering false information into the housing authority's computer database to register the 10 friends and family members as landlords.

According to Lovett's plea agreement, they were then assigned ineligible or inactive housing applicants and issued periodic rent checks.

All three men worked in the housing authority's Section 8 office and were responsible for monitoring tenant files and setting up monthly payments to HUD-approved landlords.

Coleman was employed from January 2000 to April 2005. Lovett was employed from May 2002 to October 2004. Miles worked at the authority from May 2003 to October 2004.

It was not immediately clear how their employment ended. Jerome Ryans, housing authority president, deferred comment Wednesday to federal officials.

Investigators from HUD's Office of Inspector General pursued the case for years.

Timothy Mowery, assistant special agent in charge of OIG's Tampa field office, said Wednesday that the money was meant for families "that are just trying to make it, that hit on hard times and are just trying to keep their head afloat."

Kenneth M. Donohue, HUD's inspector general, said in a statement that he was "appalled."

"The message here is clear," he said. "If you do business with HUD and try to defraud, we're coming after you."

Authority Again In Spotlight

This isn't the first time O'Neill's office has prosecuted housing authority workers.

In 2001, former Executive Director Audley Evans was convicted on 15 counts of taking bribes and illegal gratuities in exchange for steering contracts to his friends.

He had resigned in 1996 after an investigation into conflicts of interest at the authority.

He was sentenced to three years and five months in federal prison, but that sentence was later shortened after a federal appeals court threw out six of the charges.

Researchers Melanie Coon and Michael Messano contributed to this report. Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837 or esilvestrini@tampatrib.com. Reporter John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915 or jallman@tampatrib.com.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT