Miller Place salesman sentenced in mortgage fraud

A Miller Place salesman was sentenced Wednesday in Suffolk County Court to 5 years' probation and 40 hours of community service for his role in a mortgage fraud.

Frank Spindel, 50, pleaded guilty earlier this year to fourth-degree grand larceny for a scheme in which he and his co-defendant used a straw buyer in the purchase of a $1.2-million East Quogue home.

Spindel owes $24,176 in restitution, County Court Judge Stephen Braslow said.

As he left court, Spindel said he was "railroaded" by prosecutors. He blamed his co-defendant, Marie Poulard, 53, of East Quogue, for hatching the plot.

Poulard lived in the house.

"I received no money from this," Spindel said.

A spokesman for the district attorney's office declined to comment.

Poulard pleaded guilty in February to third-degree grand larceny, online court records show.

She is scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.

Poulard is free without bail.

Prosecutors said the pair falsified documents to make it appear as if the straw buyer, who was not charged, made $23,000 a month, when in fact he parked cars for $22,000 a year.