Marriott pleads guilty in Wilbarger

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June 2, 2010

By Janet Jacobs Corsicana Daily Sun The Corsicana Daily Sun Wed Jun 02, 2010, 09:42 PM CDT

Corsicana — After more than five years of investigations and legal wrangling, Lynn Marriott submitted a guilty plea this week to one count of engaging in organized criminal activity in Vernon. On Tuesday, 46th District Judge Dan Mike Bird of Wilbarger County accepted his plea, sentencing Marriott to nine years in prison for the crime.

“We had him under one indictment up there, on mortgage fraud or organized criminal activity,” explained David Glickler, the Assistant Attorney General for the State of Texas who is prosecuting the various charges against the entire Marriott family.

Marriott was charged in Wilbarger last October, and the judge set his bond at $1 million. Unable to post the bond, Marriott has waited in jail there since November, and he remains there now, according to officials at the Wilbarger County Jail.

“The Attorney General’s office did an excellent job in this case,” said Staley Heatly, Wilbarger District Attorney. “The kind of support they provide to local prosecutors in complex cases, like mortgage fraud, is invaluable to us rural prosecutors.”

Marriott’s Wilbarger County trial was set for late June.

In 2005, the husband and wife team of Lynn and Kandace Marriott, along with some other members of the family, were accused of conspiring to bilk poor people out of their homes and money by falsifying documents, even forging signatures, allegedly resulting in a loss of $4 million to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Kandace Marriott was sentenced to 99 years in prison and given a $10,000 fine in August 2009. Her sister, Karen Hayes, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 years in prison for her part in the conspiracy.

Lynn Marriott, Kandace’s husband and partner in the business, claimed to be incompetent to stand trial because of mental illness, either Alzheimer’s or senility. In October, a jury found him competent to stand trial on the same charges Kandace faced, as well as three others related to mortgage fraud. Lynn Marriott operated One Way Home and Land until he and his wife were indicted in March 2005.

In September, Marriott told the courts he was unable to pay an attorney, and Neal Green was appointed as his Navarro County defender. He is being represented by Paul Johnson in Kauffman County. Michael Valverde defended him in Wilbarger.

Although the Wilbarger sentencing marks his first conviction, Marriott still faces multiple charges in Corsicana and Kauffman.

“We’re going to attempt to bring him back to Navarro County. We’re going to try to settle it this year,” Glickler said. “We didn’t start this to end it in Wilbarger.”

—————

Janet Jacobs may be reached via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com. Want to “Soundoff” on this story? E-mail: soundoff@corsicanadailysun.com

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