Florida man gets three years in prison for stealing identities, selling other people's homes

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A Florida man was sentenced Friday for stealing identities and selling people's unoccupied homes in Virginia, Florida and North Carolina. 

Jose Manuel Santiago, 43, of Sarasota and two co-conspirators would identify empty homes, and then steal the identities of the homeowners to then sell those homes. 

The trio's scam began around February 2020 as the COVID pandemic began. 

Santiago and Rosson Dwayne Hamilton, 40, worked together to open bank accounts in the names of the homeowners. Vernon Lavoie, 59, would appear before notaries with fake identification presenting themselves at the homeowners, and would forge the owners' signature on closing documents. 

Santiago and his co-conspirators tried to sell at least ten properties, successfully making $581,808, and attempting to get an additional $768,175. 

Some of the home purchases were able to be reversed, but in some cases the homebuyer refused to return the home to the rightful owner. 

Santiago pleaded guilty on February 20 and was sentenced to three years in prison. Hamilton pleaded guilty on February 6, and was sentenced to a single day in prison. Lavoie pleaded guilty in 2021 and was sentenced to seven months in prison.