DALLAS – Bruce Kevin Hawkins, 52, of Desoto, Texas, appeared in federal court on June 20, 2017, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Renee Harris Toliver and pleaded guilty to one count of mail fraud, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
Hawkins faces a maximum statutory penalty of twenty years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. Restitution could also be ordered. Hawkins has been in custody since the time of his arrest in January 2017. Sentencing has not yet been scheduled.
A federal grand jury in Dallas returned an indictment in December 2016 charging Hawkins and three others with felony offenses stemming from a ‘foreclosure rescue scheme’ they ran from approximately February 2012 through January 2013. Mark Demetri Stein, 36, of Carrollton, Texas, and Richard Bruce Stevens, 51, of San Antonio, Texas, are scheduled to begin trial on August 28, 2017. Christina Renee Caveny, 37, of Dallas, pleaded guilty earlier this month. A sentencing date for Caveny will be set at a later date.
According to documents filed in the case, Stein operated Real Estate Solutions, Stevens used Texas Real Estate Services, and Hawkins formed ERealty Mortgage Group, LLC, as foreclosure rescue companies. The conspirators used third parties to contact homeowners and offer them an opportunity to get out of their present home loans and receive a new home loan with a reduced interest payment and reduced monthly payment. Hawkins and other conspirators falsely represented to homeowners that they had ‘investors’ standing by who were ready to quickly purchase the homeowner’s present loan from the lender holding the current mortgage.
Furthermore, Hawkins and other conspirators falsely represented to the homeowners that the homeowners had the legal authority to transfer their homeowner’s deed to the defendants.
The defendants recruited at least 70 distressed and vulnerable homeowners who were facing the imminent threat of foreclosure on their homes and fraudulently collected a total of at least $242,000 from them. This case is one of several felony prosecutions of bankruptcy-related crimes prosecuted as a result of the Bankruptcy Fraud Initiative in the Northern District of Texas.
Since May 2013, a total of 26 defendants have been charged as part of that initiative. To date, 20 defendants have been convicted, one resulted in a mistrial, and five are pending trial.
Hawkins is currently in custody. His sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
Key Facts
- State: Texas
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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