Man pleads guilty in HUD plot

Posing as a landlord, he defrauded the housing program, officials say.

By KEVIN GRAHAM, Times Staff Writer
Published January 18, 2008

TAMPA - A man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to posing as a landlord and defrauding the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development of more than $40,000 in grant money.

Brian Montgomery, 37, faces a maximum of 10 years in prison. A sentencing date before U.S. District Judge Susan Bucklew has not been set.

Montgomery was one of 10 people whom federal agents accused of conspiring with three former Tampa Housing Authority employees to funnel more than $100,000 from the HUD program.

The U.S. Attorney's Office unsealed an indictment in December, naming the former Housing Authority employees as Calvin Coleman, Carlton Miles and Mario Lovett.

Montgomery is the second person charged in the scheme to plead guilty. Lovett pleaded guilty last week to conspiracy.

Montgomery signed a plea agreement that will require him to pay restitution of at least $42,480. That's how much prosecutors said he personally received from a Housing Authority bank account between June 2004 and January 2005.

Federal prosecutors accused the former Housing Authority employees of misusing their positions as Section 8 eligibility specialists. The employees were responsible for maintaining tenant files and setting up monthly payments to certain landlords who had Housing Assistance contracts.

The government said Coleman, Miles and Lovett added the names of family members and friends, such as Montgomery, onto the Housing Authority's computer system. Checks went out to the bogus landlords, and the three former Housing Authority employees got part of the money, officials said.

Kevin Graham can be reached at kgraham@sptimes.com or 813 226-3433.

[Last modified January 18, 2008, 00:38:19]