Ex-Supervisor Sent to Prison for Mortgage Scam

A lawyer and the former township supervisor of Doylestown in Bucks County will spend 18 months in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scam that preyed on homeowners facing foreclosure.

The Intelligencer said at his sentencing Friday, Jeffrey Bennett was also ordered to forfeit more than $200,000 in proceeds from the scheme. His law partner Stephen Doherty was sentenced earlier this week to a year and a day in prison.

They were among five people indicted several years ago in the scheme, which resulted in at least 35 fraudulent mortgage loans worth more than $10 million.

Authorities said the group targeted distressed homeowners, falsely promising they could save their homes. Instead, they obtained fraudulent mortgages and helped themselves to whatever equity was left in the homes.