2 Mecklenburg men sentenced in fraudulent loan scheme

Two men were sentenced to prison this week for their roles in a scheme involving more than $1 million in fraudulent automobile and personal loans, Acting U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose announced.

Shawn Davis, 44, of Huntersville, and Darren Eugene Littles, 47, of Charlotte, were sentenced respectively to 30 months and 27 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

U.S. District Judge Robert Conrad also ordered Littles to pay $394,784.50 and Davis, $45,284.04 in restitution.

Davis and Littles each pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and financial institution fraud.

Two other defendants convicted in the scheme were sentenced March 30.

Kimberly Arnell Cureton, 45, of Rock Hill, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and a year of supervised release. She pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft.

Kevin Lamone Desmore, 43, of Durham, was sentenced to 15 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Desmore pleaded guilty to bank fraud conspiracy and making a false statement on a loan application.

The four conspired with one another and obtained automobile and personal loans from financial institutions by lying on the loan applications and submitting false or forged information and documentation to support the fraudulent loan packages, according to court documents.

At times, the loan packages contained inflated prices for the automobiles to be purchased and, in many instances, the loan applicants failed to make the required loan payments but attempted to keep the funds obtained as a result of the fraudulent loan applications, court records show.

Littles was the primary facilitator of the conspiracy, prosecutors said.

Littles recruited the others to submit fraudulent loan applications, contacted financial institutions and submitted the fraudulent loan packages, prosecutors said. At times, he used stolen identities or impersonated other people to facilitate the fraud, according to court documents.

This story was originally published May 7, 2015 at 2:05 PM with the headline "2 Mecklenburg men sentenced in fraudulent loan scheme."