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Former city employee sentenced in land bank fraud scheme

Michael Anthony Adams
IndyStar

The former assistant director of the Indianapolis Department of Metropolitan Development was sentenced Monday for his role in a land bank fraud scheme.

Reggie Walton, 32, was convicted of accepting bribes and kickbacks to promote fraudulent property sales. He was sentenced to nine years in prison and fined $250,000.

“The citizens of Indianapolis deserve better from their public officials,” U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler said in a statement. “Betraying the public’s trust and wasting tax dollars is a crime we take very seriously. Those who choose to ignore federal law will be held accountable, just as this sentence holds Mr. Walton accountable.”

Walton and his co-defendant, David Johnson, sold property to nonprofit groups that then sold it to for-profit businesses, the release said. After the sales had taken place, Walton and Johnson received kickback payments from the nonprofit organizations.

Both were found guilty of multiple fraud and bribery charges in March 2015. Johnson was sentenced in December to 5½ years in federal prison.

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The purpose of the Indianapolis Land Bank, the release said, is to seize abandoned and tax delinquent properties in the city and return them to "productive and economically viable use" by making them available for sale to nonprofit and for-profit real estate developers.

Call IndyStar reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelAdams317 and on Snapchat: @michael389.

Defendants found guilty in Indy Land Bank bribery