Triple-decker flipping scheme earns lawyer nearly four years in federal prison

Charles Sammon, 37, of West Pittston, PA., was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison yesterday for a scheme in which he collected fees at closings for triple-decker units in Dorchester, Roxbury and Jamaica Plain involving buyers who then promptly defaulted, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports.

According to the feds, in 2006, Sammon recruited unqualified buyers for condo units - and in some cases entire buildings, got them to lie on their mortgage applications and pocketed attorney's fees. The buyers then defaulted on the mortgages. In total, lenders lost $2.5 million in the scheme, the US Attorney's office says.

Sammon pleaded guilty in November. In addition to the prison time, he has to repay lenders $977,000 and will spend four years on probation after his release.

In one case, a custodian recruited by Sammon earned nearly $80,000 for applying for mortgages on units on Fifield Street in Dorchester and Blue Hill Avenue and Marcella Street in Roxbury, according to the indictment against him.

In another case:

In or about October or November 2006, SAMMON, as attorney for mortgage lenders New Century Mortgage Corporation and Sallie Mae Home Loans, Inc., conducted simultaneous closings for the sale to J.C. of Units 2 and 3, 106 Sawyer Avenue [in Dorchester]. SAMMON caused J.C. to sign documents for each closing reflecting, falsely, that J.C. intended to occupy the unit in question as his primary residence.

Sammon himself bought a triple decker at 20 Lawn St. in Roxbury for roughly $683,000, then 90 days later sold it for $1.1 million to three people who, after pocketing $30,000 fees from Sammon, defaulted.