Posted Jan 21, 2011 @ 12:10 PM

http://www.wickedlocal.com/brookline/news/x512672951/Brookline-attorney-sentenced-to-12-years-following-conviction-on-money-laundering-wire-fraud-charges

Brookline — A Brookline attorney was sentenced yesterday to spend the next 12 years in prison, after he was convicted by a federal jury as part of a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders of more than $10.6 million.

Eric L. Levine, 58, of Brookline, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge George A. O’Toole, Jr., to 12 years in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, according to the office of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz.

Levine was convicted by a federal jury in Boston on conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering charges following a seven-week trial in June, according to Ortiz’ office.

Levine was among 11 defendants indicted in 2008, after prosecutors said they were involved with a mortgage fraud ring that took more than $10.6 million from 10 lenders through 21 fraudulent property transactions in 2005 and 2006.

Levine was among five defendants found guilty in June on conspiracy and wire fraud charges, and Levine was also convicted on a money laundering charge. Five additional defendants pled guilty before trial. The remaining defendant in the case is awaiting trial next month, according to Ortiz’ office.

Levine, who was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1979, was the subject of a public reprimand in 1995 and his license to practice law was suspended in 2003, according to the state’s Board of Bar Overseers. Ortiz’ office also reported his license was suspended at the time of the crimes.

According to Ortiz, Levine and the 10 other defendants used falsified documents, inflated purchase prices and so-called “straw” buyers to defraud 10 mortgage lenders from May 2005 to June 2006. Prosecutors said the scheme involved 21 properties in South Boston, Dorchester, Jamaica Plain, Quincy, Hyde Park and Cohasset. Levine distributed money collected from the operation to his co-conspirators, kept the some of money himself, or deposited some into accounts he controlled, according to Ortiz’ office.