BREAKING NEWS
A federal judge today sentenced a former mayor of Huntington Beach to more than three years in prison for her role in a condo conversion scam.
Pamela Houchen was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $140,000 to a victims restitution fund.
Houchen, a 49-year-old mother of toddler triplets, pleaded guilty in September 2005 to eight counts of mail and wire fraud in the illegal conversion of 15 apartment buildings. She and seven others were indicted in December 2004 after the scheme became public.
It left scores of Huntington Beach residents in limbo holding property they could not sell and whose value was significantly depreciated.
Houchen must surrender herself into federal custody on Nov. 6.
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