Las Vegas Sun

April 16, 2024

Florida woman gets prison in Nevada property investment scam

A 31-year-old Florida woman has been sentenced in Nevada to six-to-15 years in prison for her role in a real estate investment scheme that prosecutors say bilked at least 11 investors.

Jessica Garcia, of Apopka, Florida, also was ordered Tuesday to pay a share of more than $750,000 in restitution to victims of the business known as Parcelnomics LLC or Investment Deals.

Garcia and co-defendant Jack Leal pleaded guilty in April 2017 to felony fraud charges.

Leal was sentenced in August 2017 to six-to-15 years in state prison.

Garcia's lawyer, Gabriel Grasso says her sentencing was postponed several times while she worked to make restitution to the victims. Grasso says he'd disappointed she didn't receive credit for those efforts.

But the attorney acknowledged that Garcia also failed to appear for sentencing in 2017 and was arrested several months later in Florida.

State Attorney General Aaron Ford says that from March 2015 to March 2016 Garcia and Leal falsely represented that properties their victims bought were clear of liens and other security interests.