Philadelphia "Rocker" Gets 18 Months In Mortgage Scam

The Morning Call reports:

• "A Philadelphia man whose rock band recently completed an album was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison Wednesday for his role in an Allentown [Pennsylvania] real estate scam that sold overpriced homes to clients with poor credit. Christopher Gallagher, 35, who in February pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and two counts of failure to file income taxes, was also ordered ... to undergo three years of supervised release and to pay $145,000 in restitution. [...] Two other men, Patrick Balf, 53, and Donald Stone, 58, both formerly of Allentown, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in connection with the scam. Balf was sentenced to five years in prison and ordered to pay $2 million in restitution while Stone was sentenced to six months in prison and ordered to pay $820,000 in restitution."

The scam involved pretty standard stuff: inflated purchase prices for homes in rundown neighborhoods, falsified loan documents, selling to homebuyers with bad credit. The sales involved several hundred properties in downtown Allentown.

Reportedly, Gallagher was given three months to turn himself in to prison authorities so that he can fulfill commitments connected to his music career, including the release of a CD scheduled for around Thanksgiving, as well as upcoming performances in Philadelphia and Atlantic City. For more, see 18 months for mortgage fraud (Man allowed to finish music work. Victims say he got little more than a wrist slap).