An Ohio couple have been sentenced for devising a scheme to collect more than $2 million dollars in insurance money by conspiring to set insured houses on fire, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Ohio announced.
Lonnie White, 48, from Willoughby Hills, Ohio, was sentenced to 53 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi after pleading guilty in August to the following charges as outlined in the indictment:
Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud
Conspiracy to commit money laundering offenses
Conspiracy to use fire in commission of a felony
He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,375,861 in restitution. Chief Judge Lioi imposed the sentence Jan. 23.
White’s spouse, Lisa Ogletree, 48, was sentenced to five years of probation and 810 days of location-monitored home confinement after she pleaded…
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Insurance fraud involves making false or exaggerated claims to an insurance provider.
- Hard Fraud: Someone deliberately causes a loss (e.g., setting fire to a warehouse or staging a car accident) specifically to collect a payout.
- Soft Fraud: More common and often viewed as “victimless” by the perpetrator. It involves exaggerating a legitimate claim, such as overstating the value of stolen items in a home burglary to cover the deductible.