TEN-YEAR PRISON SENTENCE IN GRIMES CO. REAL ESTATE FRAUD CASE

  

A woman was sentenced to prison on Tuesday in Grimes County District Court on charges of real estate fraud.

52-year-old Tonya Renae Truitt pleaded guilty to two counts of Theft, Fraudulent Use of Identifying Information, Securing Execution of a Document by Deception, and Tampering with a Government Record.  She was sentenced to 10 years in prison for each charge and ordered to pay restitution to the victim.  The five sentences will run concurrently.

According to a release from the Grimes County District Attorney’s Office, a victim made a report to the Grimes County Sheriff’s Office on September 12^th, telling authorities that a parcel of land he owned had been sold without his knowledge.  A secondary victim was found, who believed he had lawfully purchased the land after finding an advertisement on Facebook Marketplace.

Investigators determined that the individual who had posted the listing under the name of Bridget Nobles was actually Truitt, who they said used a fake ID, forged a property deed and secured execution of the deed by deception.  They found that Truitt defrauded the purchasing victim out of $47,000. 

Truitt is in custody awaiting transfer to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

The DA’s Office said this is the first real estate fraud case it has received.  It encouraged Grimes County property owners to sign up for a free property fraud alert service offered through the county clerk’s office.  Residents who register will receive an alert any time their name is used in a real property filing within the county and will be notified against potentially fraudulent claims or transactions regarding real property.

A co-defendant in the case was not named in the release.  That individual’s case is still pending.