A Hennepin County jury convicted loan officer, Marlon Pratt, of a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud homeowners, lenders and others Wednesday, but the fallout doesn't end there. One by one, those closest to Pratt fell.
Prosecutors won convictions against his former company, Universal Mortgage, the company's president and against four of his co-workers.
"Mr. Pratt chose to fight us all the way and didn't want to back down so we're been through a six-week trial with him and we're very pleased that it's been successful," said Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Tom Fabel.
A jury of seven women and five men deliberated for less than eight hours before they began filling out the guilty verdicts. They convicted him on 17 counts of theft by swindle and two counts of racketeering.
Jurors found Pratt jacked up home prices and conned buyers and lenders into closing on deal after deal. The 17 loans all collapsed, from Minneapolis to Golden Valley to Brooklyn Center.
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