Scammer Faces Hard Prison Time For Loan Mod Ripoffs; Multiple Felony Convictions Involving 'Residential Burglary' Count As 'Prior Offenses' Under California 'Three-Strikes' Law

In Monterey County, California, The Monterey County Herald reports:

• Sentencing has been set for Oct. 30 for Blanca Sanchez, also known as Blanca Maciel, on 13 felony counts arising from what prosecutors termed a "foreclosure rescue" scam.
  
  Sanchez was found guilty [last week] by a jury and faces a sentence of up to 16 years in prison when she appears before Monterey County Superior Court Judge Mark Hood, District Attorney Dean Flippo said.
  
  Four of the five felonies, he said, involve residential burglary, making the convictions count as prior offenses under the state's "Three Strikes" law.
  
  Sanchez was arrested in December 2010 after Salinas police searched her home and found evidence she was running an unlicensed loan modification business, Flippo said.
  
  Evidence presented at her trial showed she had persuaded clients to pay her thousands of dollars in fraudulent fees and charges, then abandoned them, he said, and all but one of the victims lost their homes.
  
  Prosecutor was Deputy District Attorney John Hubanks of the DA's real estate fraud unit, assisted by investigators Alicia Cox and Manuel Infante, and legal assistant Louis Santa Ana.

Source: Woman to be sentenced Oct. 30 in foreclosure scam case.