Opinion ID: 866146
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Washington Street Property

Text: Ralph also participated in the September 2005 sale of the Washington Street property. A man named Peter Robinson served as the straw buyer for this purchase. Robinson testified that he spoke with Ralph at least once during the purchasing process, and on one occasion another conspirator witnessed Robinson, Ernst, and Ralph meet together at the New England Mortgage office. Robinson's loan application listed Ralph as the loan interviewer, and Ralph also acted as the broker representative for the purchase. Robinson's purported loan application was submitted to a company called WMC Mortgage Corporation (WMC Mortgage). The application contained various false statements, including information about his employment at a second job, misrepresentations regarding his monthly income, and a $29,000 bank account balance he did not actually have. The closing for the Washington Street property took place in September 2005, with Robinson, Ernst, and an attorney present. Ralph was at the closing -5- for a short period of time. After the closing, Ralph received $8,320 in excess funds from one of Levine's accounts, as well as a broker fee in a similar amount. After a nine-day trial, the jury returned guilty verdicts on the conspiracy count as well as all four wire fraud counts. The district court sentenced Ralph to 60 months' imprisonment on the conspiracy count and 70 months' imprisonment on each wire fraud count, all to run concurrently. Ralph was also sentenced to two years of supervised release, and ordered to forfeit approximately $1.9 million that he had gained from his participation in the conspiracy. This timely appeal followed.