Jodie Foster's Father Sentenced to 5 Years

Actress Jodie Foster's estranged father was sentenced Friday to five years in jail for bilking nearly two dozen people out of thousands of dollars in a home-building scheme.

Lucius Foster, 89, of Sherman Oaks, was convicted Wednesday of 30 misdemeanor charges: 21 counts of grand theft and nine counts of contracting without a license. The six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for about three hours before reaching a verdict.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Dohi said Foster needed to be
jailed immediately because he indicated during the trial that he had no
intention of pulling his advertisements but planned to continue soliciting
customers.

Foster could have received up to 25 1/2 years in county jail. He said earlier he wanted to be sentenced as soon as possible so he could serve his time and pay back the victims. Dohi scheduled a restitution hearing for Feb. 23.

Los Angeles Deputy City Attorney Don Cocek told jurors during the trial
that Foster used war stories, blatant lies and personal charm to steal about
$130,000 from prospective home buyers.

After the verdict, he called Foster the "Bernie Madoff of Sherman Oaks.'' Foster bilked at least 21 elderly or low-income residents out of $5,000
down payments on what were to have been 2,000-square-foot modular homes made from 40-foot Chinese shipping containers and erected on single-family lots throughout the San Fernando Valley, the prosecutor said.  

Cocek noted that seven more alleged victims have come forward in recent
days. He said a decision has not been made on whether to try Foster in those cases.

Foster said during the trial that the solar-heated, three-bedroom, two-bath homes he planned to sell for less than $100,000 apiece represent "a whole new thing, and people in the building department are against it."

He insisted he would eventually make good on the homes, which he advertised on Craigslist as costing $85,000 each.

Foster made contact with his victims through his Modernistic Properties
website, referrals from Realtors and postings on Craigslist, according to the
city attorney's office. Each victim gave Foster a deposit of $5,000 and received a contract stating a house would be completed by a certain date, Cocek said. Foster would offer various excuses once deadlines passed, "but no house was ever built,'' he said.

Foster said he remains estranged from his Oscar-winning daughter.

"If you had a bad guy in your family, wouldn't you draw walls around
him?'' he told City News Service before the verdict was announced.

—City News Service