Injured cab driver not so innocent

The cab driver praised for his work with city youth after he was shot in gang-related crossfire last year pleaded guilty Monday to being part of a $450,000 mortgage fraud conspiracy.

Gregory Powell, 45, of Eighth Street, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States in U.S. District Court in Lynchburg.

Powell was sentenced to five years probation and ordered with his co-conspirators to pay $450,000 in restitution, although his plea agreement stipulates he has no money and no means of getting any to repay his victims because of his medical condition.

He had been facing a 17-count federal indictment. In addition to the conspiracy charge, he was facing one count each of mail fraud and wire fraud, seven counts of bank fraud and seven counts of filing false loan applications.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Burnham said Powell’s shooting in September changed the way the case was prosecuted.

Burnham said the case was put off until prosecutors could determine the extent of Powell’s recovery and whether he would regain legal competency.

“In light of his injuries, we felt an appropriate resolution would be to have him plead guilty to acknowledge his crime, but agreed (to a sentence) of five years’ probation,” she said.

After the shooting, Powell was praised for his work organizing a street basketball league with the YMCA. Friends subsequently held a benefit for him in June and a fund was set up at the Centra Health Credit Union to help pay his medical bills.

The conspiracy charge to which he pleaded guilty Monday carried a maximum penalty of five years in prison. The remaining charges dismissed Monday each carried a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.

According to Powell’s indictment, he and others in the conspiracy falsified loan applications and documents such as pay stubs and W-2 forms used to support them. He also recruited potential buyers with bad credit to buy the Lynchburg homes. Many of those homes, including several Powell bought himself using falsified loan applications and appraisals, ended up in foreclosure.

Twelve of the 14 houses involved in the 1998-2002 fraud conspiracy were in an area bounded by Clay Street, Florida Avenue, Kemper Street and Fourth Street. Six were in the White Rock Hill neighborhood.

Burnham, the prosecutor, was unable to say how much money Powell actually gained from his role.

Powell continues to recover from the Sept. 7 shooting in which he was wounded in the head as he drove his Allied cab down 12th Street near Garfield Avenue.

Shandre Saunders, 16, has been charged in the shooting. According to testimony at the teen’s preliminary hearing, Powell was caught in the crossfire as Saunders shot at rival gang members standing at a gas station near the intersection of Garfield and 12th.

George Gunn, Powell’s father, testified in the hearing that his son is mostly paralyzed on the right side of his body and has a hard time forming complete sentences.

The bullet entered Powell’s head in front of his right ear and exited behind his left ear, Gunn said.

Saunders is serving a two-year sentence for shooting up an apartment two weeks after the Powell shooting. He is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 2.