Marquis Harrington, age 44 of Omaha, Nebraska, was sentenced for his conviction for mail fraud and making false statements to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. United States District Court Judge John Gerrard sentenced Harrington to 2 months of imprisonment to be followed by 6 months of home confinement during a three year term of supervised release. Harrington was further ordered to pay $22,708.00 in restitution to H.U.D.
Harrington made an application for Section 8 housing assistance through the Douglas County Housing Authority. The Section 8 program provides full or partial rental assistance depending on the number of people residing in the apartment and the income of those persons. During the time he was receiving Section 8 assistance, Harrington failed to report annual income of approximately $60,000.00 and falsely reported the number of people who were living in the home. As a result of Harrington’s actions, he received rental assistance of $22,708.00 over a two and one half year period that he should not have received.
After moving out of the apartment, Harrington purchased a home in Omaha. He applied for a FHA mortgage which was insured by H.U.D. Under H.U.D. rules for FHA insured loans, there can be no second mortgage associated with the purchase of the home. In this case, Harrington gave the seller a $23,400.00 note which was not disclosed that was in addition to his mortgage. At the time of the closing on the FHA insured loan, Harrington signed forms affirmatively representing that there were no such loans.
This case was investigated by the Office of Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
