A Cherokee County man who caused his 89-year-old father to lose his home after fraudulently taking out a reverse mortgage on the property will spend two years in prison, officials said.
Reginald Keith is the adopted son of a retired U.S. Postal Service employee. Over the course of four years, he forged checks in his father’s name and deposited the checks in a personal account to fund his own cleaning and contracting business, Attorney General Chris Carr said. In all, Keith stole $90,000, prosecutors said.
His father’s home was paid off before the reverse mortgage was funded.
“As a result of Mr. Keith’s actions,” Carr said, “his father ultimately lost his home.”
Carr said Keith bought a BMW luxury sports sedan and spent the money on personal living expenses.
Keith pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of elder exploitation and three counts of forgery in the third degree. He was sentenced to spend two years of a 15-year sentence in prison, with the remainder to be spent on probation, Carr said.
When he is released from prison, Keith will have to pay $90,000 in restitution to his father.
“Ending the scourge of elder abuse is an all-in effort, and we will continue to make it a priority for our office,” Carr said. “Abuse, neglect or exploitation of an at-risk, older adult is simply unacceptable.”
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