Participant in Utah mortgage modification scam sentenced to a year in prison

The last defendant in a Utah mortgage modification scam that prosecutors say involved millions in losses has been sentenced to a year in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Dale Kimball also ordered John McCall, of Park City, to pay nearly $416,000 in restitution for his part in the fraud. McCall, who had pleaded guilty under a deal with prosecutors, was sentenced Thursday.

A February 2015 indictment alleged that McCall and five others working with CC Brown Law LLC, which was headquartered at various locations in Salt Lake County, made false statements to persuade customers to sign up for help getting home loan modifications.

Those statements, made by members of the company’s telemarketing team, allegedly included that the company was a national law firm and that it had a more than 90 percent success rate in getting loan modifications for homeowners who were delinquent on their mortgages.

Those who agreed to hire CC Brown were billed about $4,000 and additional monthly fees, the indictment states.

But according to the indictment, attorneys did little or no work for CC Brown and after taking fees from the customers, the company failed in most cases to obtain a modification. McCall was an attorney licensed to practice in Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho, but not in Utah, court records say.

Prosecutors say more than 10,000 victims across the nation suffered losses in excess of $33 million.

In addition to McCall, four of the other defendants — who were charged with various counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering — pleaded guilty in the case and have been sentenced.

Chad Gettel, of Salt Lake City, a ringleader in the fraud, was sentenced to seven years in prison and ordered to pay about $590,000 in restitution.

Three other defendants — Jeremiah Barrett, of Bountiful; Sheridan Black, of South Jordan; and James Scott Creasey, of Riverton — were placed on probation. Restitution was set at approximately $109,000 for Barrett and $121,700 for Creasey. Black was not ordered to pay restitution, according to court records.

Charges against the sixth defendant, Noemi Lozano, were dismissed earlier this year. Prosecutors said they obtained “evidence that negates the requisite knowledge and intent” needed to support the charges and asked that the counts be dropped in the interest of justice.