Last defendant pleads in Ohio mortgage scheme

COLUMBUS (AP) — The last of a dozen defendants has pleaded guilty to participating in a central Ohio mortgage-fraud scheme.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that 51-year-old Kevin Murphy pleaded guilty to one count of theft Tuesday. He faces up to eight years in prison when he’s sentenced Sept. 27.

Prosecutors say the dozen defendants were part of a wide-ranging plot to fraudulently obtain mortgages for homes with inflated values. Most of the loans ended in foreclosure.

At the time the indictments came out in 2009, prosecutors estimated that $9 million in loans had been obtained with fraudulent documents for about two dozen properties.

Other defendants have gotten sentences ranging from probation to four years in prison.

Murphy reached a plea agreement with prosecutors as jurors were being selected for his trial.