Three sentenced in real estate fraud case

Three defendants were sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Kan., for taking part in a real estate fraud scheme in which developers borrowed to build townhomes at Table Rock Lake, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said today.

David P. Drake, 67, Lone Tree, Colo., was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.

Donald D. Snider, 57, Littleton, Colo., was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison.

Heather A. Gibbs, 54, Donald Snider’s wife, was sentenced three years on probation.

Drake and Snider pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

In their pleas, Drake and Snider admitted they were business partners in a company called Western Site Services that set out to develop land in a project known as Indian Ridge Resorts. They made false representations in order to obtain financing from three banks including Columbian Bank and Trust.

In her plea, Gibbs admitted she knew that the developers submitted fraudulent invoices to the banks and she did not report the crime.

Beall commended the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. Secret Service and Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Oakley for their work on the case.