Two more plead guilty in Sexton condos mortgage scam involving Australian attorney

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The long-running saga around The Sexton Lofts condo building in downtown Minneapolis continues to unravel. On Monday, two men who took part in a $2.5 million mortgage fraud involving the sale of units at The Sexton pleaded guilty.

Gerald James Greenfield, 64, of Bloomington pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Nicholas Ryan Delon Smith, 30, of Prior Lake pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud and one count of money laundering.

Both appeared before United States District Court Judge Patrick J. Schiltz in St. Paul on Monday.

Both men were indicted in February.

Sexton developer Brett A. Thielen, 40, of Savage previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mortgage fraud and one count of engaging in illegal money transfers in December 2008. Thielen's plea, however, was not unsealed until the indictments of Greenfield and Smith were announced. Thielen awaits sentencing.

Greenfield pleaded guilty to conspiring with Thielen and others to launder proceeds through an Australian attorney. Thielen recruited straw buyers for the condo project using fraudulent information to reap inflated loans for unit sales in the building. In some cases, Greenfield directed the attorney to wire money to a brokerage firm to buy stock in a firm called Digital Town Inc.

In a June meeting at Manny's steak house in Minneapolis, Greenfield agreed to help an undercover law enforcement officer launder $50,000 in supposed drug trafficking profits by converting the money to Digital Town stock.

Smith was the sole owner of a Minneapolis-based mortgage brokerage company called Heloc, Inc. Smith admitted to falsifying income and employment information for straw buyers.

Greenfield faces a maximum sentence of 20 years; Smith faces a maximum of 15 years. Judge Schiltz will determine their sentences at a later date.