July 13, 2017 

City News Service 

 

An attorney and another defendant have been sentenced to more than three years in federal prison for bilking distressed homeowners out of $6 million in a mortgage modification scheme, prosecutors said Wednesday.

 

Ronald Rodis, 52, of Long Beach was sentenced Tuesday to 41 months in prison and Charles Wayne Farris, 56, of Aliso Viejo was sentenced to 47 months behind bars by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter in Santa Ana.

 

Carter also ordered Farris to pay $3.5 million in restitution and Rodis to pay $3.8 million.

 

Co-defendant Bryan D’Antonio was sentenced in April to 109 months in federal custody, with 97 months behind bars and the rest in a halfway house. D’Antonio, 50, was also ordered to pay $3.8 million in restitution.

 

Between October 2008 and June 2009, D’Antonio got distressed homeowners to pay up to $5,500 to a team of fictitious attorneys to negotiate lower mortgage rates, prosecutors said.

 

Rodis allowed his name to be used to lend credibility to the scheme, prosecutors said. He also did radio ads to promote the scheme. Rodis, whose law firm was based out of Newport Beach, has resigned from the state Bar of California.

 

Farris’ role was to supervise dozens of telemarketers who took calls from distressed homeowners who heard the ads, prosecutors said.

Category: Business