Federal Appeals Court OKs 23-Year Pokey Stay Given To Foreclosure Rescue Operator Who Screwed Over Three Dozen Victims (Financially Distressed Homeowners, Rent To Own Buyers, Investors) In Her Dubious Deals; Defendant: I Meant No Harm - It Was Just A Failed Business Venture

In Augusta, Georgia, The Augusta Chronicle reports:

• A former Augusta-area businesswoman was fairly tried and sentenced to more than 23 years in prison for a massive fraud based on a phony mortgage rescue operation, an appeals court has declared.
  
  In a six-page opinion [...], the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Regina Preetor­ius’ convictions for mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.
  
  Preetorius was convicted by a federal court jury in September 2013 of 10 counts of mail and wire fraud and three counts of money laundering for operating a lengthy real estate and investment scam that was exposed by The Augusta Chronicle in 2008.
  
  Preetorius insisted at trial and during her sentencing hearing that she had no intention of harming anyone. She described what happened as a failed business venture.
  
  Preetorius ran a firm called SDA & Associates that had three components: obtaining the rights to property of distressed homeowners, finding buyers for lease-purchase agreements for those homes, and convincing investors that their money would be guaranteed safe and secured with the titles of properties.
  
  It was, however, little more than a Ponzi scheme that led to financial ruin for many of her 39 victims, who lost nearly $1.5 million.
  
  The federal appeals court noted that defendants face a high bar on appeal and that Preetorius couldn’t cross it. Based on the evidence at trial, a rational jury was entitled to disbelieve Preetorius’ claims of innocence, the court stated.
  
  The appeals court also found that U.S. District Court Judge J. Randal Hall was correct in increasing Preetorius’ punishment range because she was the leader of a criminal enterprise that involved six other participants, she controlled all aspects of SDA, she recruited others, her scheme lasted for several years and more than two dozen investors were cheated.
  
  The appellate court also agreed with Hall’s logic that Preetorius’ lengthy prison term was justified because of the scam’s sophistication, the great losses she caused and Preetorius’ refusal to accept responsibility for what she did.
  
  Preetorius, 48, is imprisoned at the federal prison in Tallahassee, Fla., a low-security facility housing more than 900 female inmates. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, her release date is Jan. 21, 2034.

Source: Appeals court upholds Regina Preetorius' conviction in real estate scam.