3 Sentenced For Real Estate Fraud Scheme In La Cañada Flintridge

LA CAÑADA FLINTRIDGE, CA — Three people were sentenced for running a "sophisticated real estate fraud scheme" in La Cañada Flintridge and Los Angeles that resulted in the theft of more than $1.4 million from 2014 to 2016, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

Angela Grace Cotton, 47, was sentenced to 12 years in state prison after pleading no contest to three counts of identity theft, two counts of grand theft and one count each of forgery and money laundering, all felonies. Denaysha Coleman, 27, was sentenced to three years and eight months in state prison after pleading no contest to one felony count each of grand theft and money laundering. Lawrence Edward Cotton, 52, was sentenced to two years in state prison after pleading no contest to one felony count each of grand theft and money laundering.

The three defendants are required to pay more than $1.4 million in restitution under the terms of a negotiated plea agreement, the District Attorney's Office press release said.

A fourth defendant, Latrese Gevon Breaux, 47, pleaded no contest in February to one felony count each of grand theft and identity theft. She is expected to be sentenced to five years of formal probation and 106 days in county jail. She is also required to complete 200 hours of community service under the terms of a plea agreement, the press release said.

From July 2014 through September 2016, Cotton and her co-defendants used fictitious escrow and title companies that she had created to deceive a lending company into believing it was funding two legitimate real estate transactions, prosecutors said.

The group stole the identities of nine people in order to facilitate the fake real estate sales. Along with the fake escrow and title companies, the defendants created a fake place of employment for one supposed homebuyer under whose name the two loans were approved, the prosecutor said.

The defendants created fraudulent websites, emails, phone networks, employment documentation and bake account states from a non-existent financial institution to convince the lender the transactions and entities involved were legitimate, the prosecutor said.

The lender transferred funds to a bank account it believed to be owned by a legitimate title company but was allegedly owned by one of the defendants. The defendants received loans for properties in La Cañada Flintridge and Los Angeles that had not been listed for sale, the press release said.

The case was investigated by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Fraud and Cyber Crimes Bureau.