Man Guilty of Bilking 6 County Homeowners

A Cerritos man has been convicted in U. S. District Court in Los Angeles of mail and bankruptcy fraud in the bilking of six Orange County homeowners, U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner said Wednesday.

Bonner said a federal jury on Monday convicted Ronald Montgomery Stone, 32, of eight counts of mail fraud and 11 counts of bankruptcy fraud.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Ronald J. Nessim, who prosecuted the case, said evidence during the trial established that Stone persuaded the six homeowners, all of whom were facing foreclosure, that if they moved out, he would take over ownership, pay delinquent loans and give the homeowners between $1,000 and $6,000 cash.

Nessim said evidence showed that Stone instead simply rented the vacant homes and collected and kept the rent. Moreover, Nessim said, Stone fraudulently filed bankruptcy suits in the names of homeowners to stall foreclosures while he continued to collect rents.

Stone is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 13 by U.S. District Judge David V. Kenyon. The maximum penalty would be 95 years in prison and a $63,000 fine.