A mortgage loan officer will serve nearly five years in federal prison for his role in a real estate fraud and drug money laundering scheme.
Alton F. Bivins, Jr., 59, of Rockville, MD., was sentenced Monday to 57 months in prison on 11 counts of money laundering, conspiracy and wire fraud, according to Vickie Leduc, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Maryland.
The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Alexander Williams Jr. Bivins was convicted in February after an investigation that included the U.S. Attorney’s office in Maryland, the Internal Revenue Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Prince George’s County Police Department.
Bivins was also ordered to pay nearly $300,000 in restitution.
According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office, Bivins worked as a loan officer for First Capital Acceptance Corp. and Mortgage Corp. of Maryland from 1997 to 1997. Federal prosecutors said that during that time Bivins helped his sister, Karen Bivins, and another man, Donald Osorio, hide money they made in drug deals by purchasing $1.1 million in real estate in Prince George’s County, MD., and Washington, D.C.
While working as a loan officer Bivins would submit false mortgage applications, using phony tax returns and false employment verification to secure the loans, prosecutors said.
“The drug proceeds of Osorio and Karen Bivins were used for down payments and closing costs to complete the transactions,” the U.S. Attorney’s office said in the statement.
Leduc said the homes were then sold to complete the fraudulent moneymaking scheme.
Osorio and Karen Bivins convicted of drug conspiracy in 1998 and are serving “lengthy federal sentences for their drug trafficking activities,” prosecutors said.
