Mortgage Fraudster Marlon Pratt...Looking Not So Slick And Confident In Prison

Mug shot therefore in the public domain,

Blog post by John Hoff

I actually met Marlon Pratt, once. He was hanging around the Larry Maxwell trial which involved the mortgage fraud at 1564 Hillside Ave. N. At the time, he came off as a real slick character. He still retained some vestige of an aura of confidence, but it was wearing thin and showing holes. I imagine that outside of a courtroom where he watched Larry Maxwell getting chewed up by Hennepin County Prosecutor Brad Johnson, Marlon Pratt probably exuded the kind of personality which allowed him to pull off fraudulent deals with Universal Mortgage.

But as Pratt watched attorney Larry Reed struggling to defend Larry Maxwell, Pratt didn't seem very confident. The look on his face seemed to say...

..."This is going very badly for Larry Maxwell. And, oh my god, I'm next."

Well, here's where the scammers end up. Here's a mugshot to show what Marlon Pratt looks like in prison. He's currently incarcerated in Fairibault, Minnesota and won't be getting out until 2016.

Stripper Irene Thomas, Key Witness In Universal Mortgage Case, Reportedly Has Left Minnesota...

Photo By John Hoff

Irene Thomas, a stripper formerly employed at Sugar Daddy's in St. Cloud, was a key witness in the Universal Mortgage fraud case, yet another one of those white-collar criminal fiascos which have hit North Minneapolis hard, causing vacancies and foreclosures. Both Marlon Pratt and Donald Walthall went to prison in this case, click here for a related story. Thomas--a professional stripper and sometimes "model"-- was a "straw buyer" whose credit was used to purchase multiple houses.

About a week ago, I was passing through St. Cloud in the company of Jordan Neighborhood super-volunteer Megan Goodmundson. Recognizing the "Sugar Daddy's" establishment from the name and location, we spontaneously stopped by to see if it might be possible to interview Irene Thomas...

It was an hour before the place was supposed to be open, but the front door was unlocked and we went inside, where we spoke to a man who identified himself as "T.J." the manager. According to T.J., Irene Thomas hasn't worked at Sugar Daddy's in "about a year." T.J. said the word was Thomas had "left the state." T.J. said if any of "the girls" had heard from Irene, he would know, since the business is "like a little family."

T.J. also stated, emphatically, that he runs a clean and legal establishment and the owners do not care for anything with even a hint of possible illegality. I left him my contact information and asked if he heard from Irene Thomas, to please pass on my interview request. An email to an email address known to belong to Irene Thomas went unanswered.

(Blog post by John Hoff, from a soul food bistro in Lake Charles, Louisiana)