Ex-Las Vegas real estate agent gets 22 years in prison, again

A former Las Vegas real estate agent convicted in a mortgage fraud scheme authorities say defrauded lending institutions out of more than $25 million was sentenced for the second time Monday to nearly 22 years in prison.

Brett Depue, 42, who now lives in Arizona, was convicted by a federal jury on conspiracy and fraud charges in August.

Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt also ordered Depue to serve five years of supervised release after prison and pay a share with other defendants of $1.6 million in restitution.

Depue also must forfeit $8.6 million.

Hunt gave Depue the same prison sentence following a 2012 conviction in the case, but the conviction was overturned by a federal appeals panel.

In all Depue stood trial three times, each time defending himself. His first trial ended in a hung jury in February 2012, but he was convicted the following month.

At his last sentencing, Depue claimed he had been poisoned five times while fighting the charges in federal custody.

He did not speak Monday.

In an opening statement at his second retrial in August, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Griswold said Depue unlawfully earned $15 million in the scheme. It involved recruiting straw buyers, typically friends or relatives with good credit, for homes they had no intention of occupying, prosecutors alleged.

Depue used his parents as straw buyers and his wife, Rachel, to help recruit other straw buyers, prosecutors said.

Griswold said 110 homes in the Las Vegas Valley were fraudulently bought during the scheme between 2005 and 2007.

More than a dozen people participated in the conspiracy, and nine co-defendants pleaded guilty in the FBI-led investigation, according to prosecutors.

Contact reporter Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Follow @JGermanRJ on Twitter.