Goring guilty of racketeering

Former real estate professional faces up to 48 years in prison.

By PATRICK MALONE
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

A real estate mogul will trade his upscale lifestyle of luxury cars, fine dining and posh homes for a stretch in the big house.

Maurice Goring, 41, was convicted Tuesday on two counts of racketeering under the Colorado Organized Crime Act. He faces up to 48 years in prison.

Goring represented himself in the weeklong trial before District Judge Rosalie Vigna. He opted for a court trial decided by the judge rather than a trial by jury.

Prosecutors said Goring stole or fraudulently obtained mortgage loans totaling about $2 million.

Goring enlisted acquaintances he met at church to serve as the listed owners on distressed properties he purchased. Goring then pocketed the mortgage loan proceeds, often taking out a second mortgage immediately at closing. He let the houses lapse into foreclosure. In the process, he ruined the credit of the people who agreed to serve as the registered owners of the homes.

Debra Cortez of Pueblo West and Patricia Martinez of Pueblo were among them. Cortez said her plans to pursue a career as a respiratory therapist were dashed because a credit check is required to enroll in such medical education programs.

Cortez, who manages a laundromat, wept at the verdict, in part because she'd finally received some measure of justice, and partly out of concern for Goring's former wife and their children.

“It's bittersweet,” Cortez said. “Of course we wanted him to be found guilty, but at the same time, there's other ramifications involved. What becomes of his kids? Hopefully this will be a step on the road to getting my credit repaired.”

Prosecutor Ed Arcuri said the district attorney's office will do what it can to help Cortez restore the excellent credit rating she had before she met Goring.

Martinez, a stay-at-home grandmother, said she won't hold a grudge against Goring. But she thought the judge's verdict was just.

“I forgive the man, but I want nothing to do with him ever again,” Martinez said. “He's done this to himself.”

Testimony in Goring's trial spotlighted institutional problems in the local mortgage industry. Denise Tucci, a former real estate closer for a title company admitted she notarized documents without the signor present.

An appraiser, Alvin Jack Woolford, 57, of Colorado Springs, confessed to manipulating his appraisals to hit the numbers that Goring had set for him.

“(Woolford) characterized his approach as aggressive,” Vigna said while rendering her verdict. “The court would characterize it as criminal.”

Woolford pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor forgery for the shady appraisals he generated at Goring's urging.

Ivor Hill, an appraiser who served as an expert witness for the prosecution, debunked Woolford's elevated appraisals. Hill said such unscrupulous practices impact the entire community by artificially inflating the property-tax base and home prices.

Goring's former employee and lover, Judith Whiting, 23, testified that she forged signatures and photocopied signatures onto fabricated documents at Goring's behest to create documents that granted him power of attorney for some of the homeowners he enlisted. She also pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misdemeanor forgery for her role in the criminal enterprise. She and Woolford received sentences of probation.

In his closing argument Tuesday, Goring accused the district attorney's office of pursuing him more aggressively than the others who were indicted with him, including Whiting and Woolford, because he is black.

Arcuri dismissed the claim as absurd “and profoundly insulting.”

Instead, he said, Goring's role as ringleader of the operation placed him in prosecutors' crosshairs.

Arcuri said players in the local mortgage industry got a wake-up call from Goring's indictment. However, Hill acknowledged that the case against Goring has not rid Pueblo County of mortgage professionals willing to play loose with the rules.

Judge Vigna ordered Goring's bond revoked. He is being held at county jail. On Dec. 10, the court will receive a pre-sentence report from the probation department, and a sentencing date will be set.

Goring told the judge he would like to hire a lawyer to represent him in that phase of the case.

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