Crime Q&A: Why isn’t Roseville man sentenced for mortgage fraud in prison?

Q: I noticed that Erik Hermann Green has not served one day of his sentence for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme. Do you have any idea why not?

A: A federal jury convicted Roseville resident Erik Hermann Green of five counts of wire fraud following a six-day trial, and he was sentenced in November 2015 to two years and three months in prison.

He has filed an appeal. According to federal court records available online, he was ordered released on bail pending the appeal.

Evidence presented during his 2015 trial indicated that Green was part of a large-scale scheme to defraud the New Century Mortgage Co. by submitting false documentation about borrowers’ employment, income and assets, including fraudulent loan applications and other altered bank documents. About November 2006, when Green submitted fraudulent loan applications to obtain an $820,000 loan, he was a licensed real estate salesman and managed approximately 15 loan officers.

As part of the scheme, Green received a check for $100,000 funneled through a shell company at the close of escrow. Authorities said Green used those funds for personal expenses.

Green’s co-defendant, Stephen Pirt of the San Joaquin County community of Mountain House, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in 2013. He was sentenced in November 2015 to two years and one month in prison. According to an online roster of federal prison inmates, Pirt is at the Federal Correctional Institution in Sheridan, Ore., and is scheduled for release in June 2017.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Crime Q&A: Why isn’t Roseville man sentenced for mortgage fraud in prison?."