Yesterday, a Martin County resident was convicted of violating the conditions of his bail bond, after he failed to appear for sentencing on federal charges.
Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office, made the announcement.
On March 22, 2016, Mark Alan Yoder, 55, of Hobe Sound, was convicted by a federal trial jury on charges related to his participation in bank and mail fraud schemes. Following his conviction, Yoder was released on bail pending sentencing. Yoder failed to appear for sentencing and was subsequently convicted of the sole count of the indictment, failure to appear in court, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 3146. Yoder faces a statutory maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison for the bond jumping conviction, to run consecutive to the sentence imposed for the underlying crimes. Senior United States District Judge Paul C. Huck has not yet scheduled a sentencing date for Yoder in the two pending cases.
According to trial testimony and court documents, Yoder was permitted to remain free on bail pending sentencing, following his trial conviction on charges of bank and mail fraud schemes. Yoder filed with the court a personal declaration that he refused to recognize the Court’s authority over him and would not be attending any future hearings or comply with any reporting requirements. After multiple notices from the Court and a personal visit from the United States Probation Office, Yoder failed to appear as required at the scheduled hearing in the Fort Pierce Courthouse, for sentencing on the original criminal conviction. An arrest warrant issued, and the United States Marshals Service took Yoder into custody.
According to testimony in the original fraud trial, on Oct. 18, 2010, Yoder received a traffic citation, for driving without a seat belt, from a Tequesta Police Department Officer. Yoder objected to the ticket, demanded to speak to a supervisor and denied the officer had any authority for the stop. The officer’s supervisor arrived on the scene to provide assistance. Beginning in the months following the traffic stop and into early 2011, Yoder sent, by mail, a succession of fraudulent formal demands and notices, claiming the two police officers and the Tequesta Police Department each owed him $150,000 in damages. Yoder also sent similar demands for large damage payments to officers and executives of the bank that was foreclosing upon his home. Not long after the final judgment of foreclosure was entered in the state court, Yoder filed a fraudulent mechanic’s lien against the bank’s property, falsely claiming that he was owed thousands of dollars for his maintenance of the home prior to the foreclosure. Yoder renewed the fraudulent mechanic’s lien, with successive filings, in 2014 and 2015.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of the FBI and the United States Marshals Service. Mr. Ferrer also thanked the Martin County Sheriff’s Office, the Tequesta Police Department, and the Office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court for Martin County, Florida, for their assistance with this investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
