Former Portland Loan Officer Sentenced for Aggravated Identity Theft False Loan Applications Totaled More Than $1.5 Million

March 30, 2010 - PORTLAND, OR—Kamau Herndon, 38, of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced on March 29, 2010, by U.S. District Judge Garr M. King to serve 24 months in prison after pleading guilty to a charge of aggravated identity theft. Herndon must also serve one year of supervised release following his prison term. The defendant was ordered to report to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons on June 1, 2010.

Herndon, a former loan officer at Lighthouse Financial Group in Vancouver, Washington, was indicted February 19, 2009, on aggravated identity theft charges after he submitted three materially false loan applications to purchase homes for his girlfriend. The applications totaled more than $1.5 million for homes located in Milwaukie and Portland, Oregon and Edmonds, Washington.

The case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney and Senior Litigation Counsel Allan M. Garten.