Ex-mortgage broker headed to prison for probation violations

A former mortgage broker with past ties to a real estate investment scheme was sentenced to prison for violating the terms of his probation.

Justin Jeffries was sentenced this week to serve 33 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay the remaining restitution of $184,567 from a former sentence, according to documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri.

The latest activity involves Jeffries’ involvement in Nakato Japanese Steakhouse operator JYO LLC, as well as a job he held with Gold Mountain Communications LLC.

A Nov. 30, 2018, court filing indicates Jeffries failed to disclose the terms of his probation upon hiring by Gold Mountain. Under the terms of his probation, Jeffries was required to inform Gold Mountain of previous alleged violations that he was terminated from a former employer for stealing $53,000 to buy a Mercedez Benz and for making other nonbusiness-related purchases with a corporate credit card, according to court documents.

That former employer was JYO, according to a March 13 judgment filed in Greene County Circuit Court. In the local court, Jeffries was ordered to pay $65,000 to JYO.

Jeffries’ probation stems from a five-year sentence in 2014, about a year after he pleaded guilty to his role in a mortgage fraud scheme related to Greenleaf Cos., federal court documents show. Around the same time, Greenleaf executives were sentenced to prison for their roles in the real estate investment scheme, according to Springfield Business Journal archives. Jeffries also was ordered to pay $206,047 in restitution, according to court documents.

According to the 2014 probation sentencing filed with the U.S. District Court of the Western District of Missouri, Jeffries, along with his father Scott, operated Ozark National Mortgage 2005-08. During that time, Ozark National Mortgage shared office space with Greenleaf and created mortgage loan documents to submit to lending institutions for potential funding of real estate investments. The father and son allegedly falsified information in the documents to help Greenleaf carry out its scheme, in which the latter company defrauded investors, according to the 2013 guilty plea.