Fresno, California - Evelyn Brigget Sanchez, 32, and Darling Arlette Montalvo, 34, both of Bakersfield, were sentenced Monday to two years in prison each for their involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme that ran from October 2005 to May 2007, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced. Sanchez and Montalvo were convicted at trial of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and bank fraud. Sanchez was also convicted of 11 counts of mail fraud, and Montalvo was also convicted of 10 counts of mail fraud and one count of money laundering.

According to court documents, between October 2005 and May 2007, Sanchez and Montalvo conspired with co-defendants Eric Hernandez, Monica Hernandez, and Patricia King to defraud mortgage lenders by submitting false loan applications and fraudulent supporting documentation, causing the lenders to fund mortgage loans for the defendants’ benefit on the basis of false and misleading information. During this time, Eric Hernandez and Evelyn Sanchez were employed at mortgage brokerages in Bakersfield. The defendants submitted loan applications to lenders that included material misstatements concerning the borrowers’ income, assets, and employment, and false statements concerning the borrowers’ intent to reside in the properties as owner-occupiers, among other false statements. The defendants also fabricated false supporting documentation and submitted it to lenders in support of the loan applications.

The court also ordered the defendants to pay forfeiture money judgments to the United States in the amounts of $1,412,100 for Sanchez and $1,017,100 for Montalvo. The court set a further hearing on June 22, 2015 to determine the restitution amounts owed to victims of the crime.

Eric Hernandez, Monica Hernandez, and Patricia King previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced for their roles in the scheme. Eric Hernandez was sentenced on Sept. 16, 2013, to 10 years and 10 months in prison. King was sentenced on April 23, 2012, to three years and one month in prison. Monica Hernandez was sentenced on January 5, 2015, to one year in prison.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Internal Revenue Service – Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kirk Sherriff and Henry Carbajal III prosecuted the case.