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Ex-Housing Authority Official Sentenced For Role In Rent Scam

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 29, 2008

Updated: 08/29/2008 05:07 pm

  Calvin Coleman

TAMPA - A former Tampa Housing Authority official was sentenced this morning to four years and two months in federal prison and three years' probation for his role in a scheme to steal more than $486,000 in federal rent subsidies.

Calvin Coleman, 44, is the third former housing official sentenced in the scheme, which involved recruiting bogus landlords to collect federal housing money. He had pleaded guilty April 22 to charges of conspiracy, public corruption and theft.

Carlton Miles pleaded guilty and was sentenced in June to two years in federal prison for his role in the scam. Mario Lovett also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months.

The men and more than a dozen phony landlords are said to be responsible for a total of more than $500,000 in losses.

At least 16 people have entered guilty pleas. One person entered pretrial diversion so he could serve in Iraq with the Army.

Phony landlords who have been sentenced have received penalties ranging from probation to six months in federal prison.

Prosecutors said Miles, Lovett and Coleman recruited people to act as landlords, although the three never owned the rental properties or had leases with tenants approved by the housing authority.

Miles, Lovett and Coleman then allowed fraudulent subsidy checks to be issued to the fake landlords, who cashed them and paid a kickback to the counselors, prosecutors said.

The housing authority receives hundreds of thousands of dollars each year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to subsidize housing for low-income families, the elderly and the disabled.

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