Hall of Shame fake mogul sentenced to federal prison in Virginia

FOX 2 (WJBK) - ​Rob Wolchek put Roscoe Copeland and Dawnn Lynn Long in the Hall of Shame back in 2017 for taking upfront fees for home loans, then never delivering the loan.  

Now U.S. Attorneys in Virginia are sending them off to federal prison. They were convicted for conspiring to obtain more than $650,000 in advance fees from people seeking loans. The pair had victims all over the country, from Detroit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Virginia.  

Copeland was sentenced to six years and Long, sentenced to one year and one day. Both were also ordered to pay more than $600,000 in restitution in the decision, which came down last month.

According to court documents, Roscoe Copeland, 49, was the founder and CEO of Alexis Realty Solutions LLC which claimed to be an alternative funding source for prospective borrowers seeking loans for real estate purchases.

ARS targeted customers with poor credit ratings or were otherwise unable to qualify for a loan through traditional funding sources. ARS offered unrealistic interest rates to their customers, including as low as 1% for a traditional 30-year fixed mortgage.

Copeland and his co-defendant, Dawnn Long, his chief operating officer, claimed that ARS was a private lender with no "middle man," and that the company had access to specialized bond funding at discounted rates.

As part of the scheme, prospective borrowers paid ARS an upfront fee, typically 3% of the loan amount, to purportedly secure a bond necessary to obtain the loan.

Related: Hall of Shame: Wannabe mogul lives large while customers languish

During the conspiracy, which lasted from approximately January 2017 to January 2018, Copeland and Long knowingly made repeated false statements to both prospective borrowers and consultants.

No one ever received a loan - echoing Wolchek's 2017 Hall of Shame profile on Copeland and Long.

Copeland documented his fancy lifestyle on social media, showing that he ate meals at five-star restaurants, lives in a luxury high-rise apartments, and even has a driver who chauffeurs him around.

Victims told Rob that Roscoe used his slick website and business image to get them to put down earnest money on real estate loans that were never funded.