CLEARFIELD – A plea agreement for a man accused of selling a trailer in Lawrence Township that he didn’t own was thrown out by a judge during colloquy court Friday.
Matthew Alan Kelley, 28, whose address is listed as Hermitage, was charged with burglary, theft by deception, criminal trespass, criminal use of communication facility, fraudulent destruction rec insur, and forgery, all felonies, as well as misdemeanor secure execution docs by deception and false impression privately employed person, in relation to the sale of a trailer located on Willow Drive in Lawrence Township.
The victim paid him over $26,000 for the home.
President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman called a plea, which included only three of these charges and for a nine-month sentence, “absolutely outrageous” and rejected it.
The sentence was “way below the standard range”, he said.
Kelley owes over $29,000 total in restitution of which he has only paid $1,005.
Kelley is currently incarcerated in Mercer County on felony counts of theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property, according to online court documents.
The Clearfield County case will be put back on the trial list.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a resident contacted police explaining she had purchased a trailer and now suspected she was the victim of fraud.
In December of 2020, she said she responded to a Facebook Marketplace ad for the trailer and when she went to see it, she was met by Kelley, whose name was not listed on the ad.
He gave her a tour of the mobile home and told her if she wanted it, she would need to put down a deposit since other people were interested in it.
At this point, she gave him a check for $5,000 with an agreement of paying a total of $27,000.
Kelley told her he “forgot his legal documents, however, drew up a contract on a piece of paper agreeing to the terms, with his signature” and hers. The balance of the money was to be paid by Jan. 10, 2021.
The victim cashed several IRA accounts to get the rest of the money and wrote three checks for $7,000 each, which she gave to Kelley.
He provided her with a Quitclaim deed, which appeared to her to be a legal document.
To finalize the deal, she gave him another check for $896. He told her she would receive the title in eight to 10 business days. However, this did not happen.
Later she texted him asking about it, and he said it would be two more weeks. After that deadline passed, she sent another text inquiring about the title. Kelley told her he was waiting for the checks to clear.
About 12 days later, she was contacted by the trailer park manager’s office asking her about buying the home and questioning how she did that when the owner was in state prison.
It was after this that the victim phoned police.
When the owner was contacted, he said he thought Kelley worked as an attorney for a law firm he was dealing with in his legal proceedings.
Kelley had been asked to pay the owner’s rent and his mortgage but was never given permission to sell or even enter his property.
“Matthew Kelley is currently incarcerated for defrauding other victims in the same manner throughout the state,” according the complaint.