Glendale : Real Estate Agent Sentenced

A real estate agent who pleaded no contest to charges that he tried to steal more than $5 million worth of land from an 88-year-old Glendale man has been sentenced to three years in state prison.

Abranham Avanous Hovik, 49, of Sunland, had entered the plea after Pasadena Municipal Judge Terry Smerling promised he would hand down no more than a three-year sentence. If he had been tried and convicted, Hovik would have faced up to eight years in prison.

Hovik, who was sentenced Dec. 12, was accused of trying to steal real estate from Neal Garrett, a self-described “old hermit,” who has said he owns more than 100 pieces of land in Los Angeles County. Glendale police said Hovik forged Garrett’s name on documents that transferred ownership of valuable lots to the agent.

Hovik was arrested in May after a title company employee became suspicious about an apparent change of ownership because she knew Garrett has consistently refused to sell his land, telling real estate agents that he had plans to build on the land himself someday.