Man Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison for Role in Frauds

An Orange County man who once fled from authorities was sentenced Monday to two years in federal prison for his role in separate schemes that involved making phony cash-for-prize promises to senior citizens on the telephone and falsifying loan applications.

Kevin C. Hutchinson, a former Corona del Mar resident who now lives in Brea, was ordered Monday to surrender on Sept. 23 to begin serving his federal term.

Hutchinson, 31, who fled after his indictment in March 1995, eventually cooperated with prosecutors and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to one count each of fraud and falsifying information on a bank loan application.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Ellyn Lindsay said that Hutchinson received a light sentence because he is cooperating with authorities in a continuing investigation into both schemes.

“He was a very minor player in the loan scam,” Lindsay said. “And in the telephone scam, others were involved and he was the figurehead. But there was someone controlling him.”

She would not identify additional suspects.

In the telephone scam, Hutchinson and others cheated about 100 Orange County senior citizens out of $350,000. Lindsay said Hutchinson called victims and told them they won a top prize--cars, expensive vacations, jewelry or gold--and had to send money for taxes or shipping fees to receive it.

The victims sent from $500 to $3,500 each. Some received health and beauty care products. But none received the prizes, Lindsay said.

“The loss wasn’t large, but the moral depravity of taking money from the elderly is what’s so upsetting,” she said.

The scam was shut down in early 1995 after four months in operation, she said.

Hutchinson originally was indicted with Lloyd Myles Rucker of Newport Beach, who built custom homes on speculation and often sold them to buyers whose incomes were far below the minimum required, according to testimony at Rucker’s trial.

From 1989 through 1992, Rucker helped clients buy more than $5 million worth of his homes by allegedly falsifying their loan applications. As a result, lenders lost more than $600,000. Rucker was convicted last fall and was sentenced to 44 months in prison.

Hutchinson was a real estate agent who helped Rucker find buyers. He fled in an apparent effort to avoid being forced to testify at Rucker’s trial.

Last September, after Rucker’s trial concluded, he surrendered and spent six months in jail before working out a deal with prosecutors.