Christopher Lee Horn, 58, and Sondra Horn, 57, both of Richville, Minn., have pleaded guilty to a cold-blooded scam that stole over $14,000 from a federal program meant to save struggling homeowners. The former Mount Vernon couple admitted to taking mortgage assistance they didn’t qualify for—while living in Minnesota and renting their Ohio property to a tenant.
The duo exploited the U.S. Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), a lifeline created after the 2008 financial crash to help unemployed and underemployed homeowners avoid foreclosure. In Ohio, that lifeline was called Save the Dream Ohio. The program poured millions into state housing agencies to keep families in their homes. The Horns saw it as easy money.
Court records show the couple received more than $2,800 in September 2014 as an initial rescue payment and were approved for 18 monthly installments of $692 each for their property at 18 Marion Street in Mount Vernon. But at the same time, they were renting the house for $655 a month—cash or personal check to a third party, who funneled the payments into a joint credit union account the Horns controlled.
They didn’t just take the money. They lied. To qualify, applicants had to prove the property was their primary residence. The Horns were living in Richville, Minn., hundreds of miles away. Their Ohio home wasn’t a sanctuary—it was a shell game, feeding their greed with taxpayer dollars.
Both Christopher and Sondra Horn pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit theft of government property, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison. There’s no parole in the federal system—just hard time for those who rip off relief meant for the desperate.
“Today the defendants join 388 defendants convicted of crimes the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief (SIGTARP) investigated,” said Special Inspector General Christy Goldsmith Romero. “Christopher and Sondra Horn knowingly defrauded a TARP program that helps unemployed homeowners stay in their primary home.” The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheila G. Lafferty, with David M. DeVillers, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and SIGTARP standing behind the takedown. Sentencing will be determined by the court, guided by federal sentencing guidelines.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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