Once Sentenced to 12 Years, Developer Now Innocent

Upper Marlboro, like other towns throughout Maryland and the U.S., is still ascending from a crippling  that left many residents without homes and others looking for a way to start over.

But one local developer accused of contributing to the mess has had his overturned conviction upheld after he was originally sentenced to serve 12 years in prison.

According to a recent report in The Washington Examiner, the Maryland Court of Appeals upheld a lower appellate court's decision to overturn the 2009 conviction of Leon T. Coleman, who was sentenced for failing to build homes in Upper Marlboro he had contracts to develop.

According to the Examiner report, Coleman was charged with theft by deception and failing to deposit money into an escrow account. In 2004, Coleman reportedly entered contracts with 10 families to build homes in Upper Marlboro, and the buyers were to purchase lots before their homes were constructed.

Prosecutors argued that Coleman never intended to build the homes and that he intended to spend the money improperly, the Examiner reported. But while Coleman was accused of misrepresenting the development of the subdivision, the court found he didn't steal from the buyers.