REAL ESTATE CON MAN SENTENCED TO 12 YEARS

Maryland Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr. announced today that Robert Franklin Miller was sentenced to twelve (12) years to the Department of Corrections by Judge Dana M. Levitz, in Baltimore County Circuit Court . Miller, age 51, ran a real estate scheme through advertisements in The Baltimore Sun which targeted people with poor credit. The advertisements claimed that Miller’s company could obtain loans for the purchase of homes for any applicant for a $2,500 down payment. Miller, who falsely represented himself as an attorney and a real estate broker, showed the homes to the victims, signed contracts for the properties, and then took money from the victims as down payments, promising to keep the money in escrow until settlement. Then Miller immediately used the victims’ money for personal expenses such as dry cleaners, liquor store purchases, and dining. Miller was neither an attorney nor a licensed real estate broker, and he provided no real estate services for any of the victims. After spending their money, Miller never contacted the victims again. Miller plead guilty in January to stealing over $14,000.00 from four victims in 2001 and 2002. " Mr. Miller preyed on hard working people who were trying to overcome credit problems and fulfill their desire to own their own homes. We are pleased that the Court viewed this case the same way we did and handed down an appropriate sentence," said Attorney General Curran.

The case was investigated by the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Maryland State Police, and was prosecuted by the Criminal Investigations Division of the Office of the Attorney General.

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