BRADENTON — A sentencing hearing for Philip William Coon will have to wait until next year.
The former executive of Bradenton’s Coast Bank who helped mastermind a loan skimming scheme to defraud borrowers won’t have a sentencing hearing until January.
On Wednesday, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida granted the government’s motion to reschedule evidentiary and sentencing hearings in Coon’s case.
The sentencing hearing will be scheduled for a date to be determined in January. The sentencing was originally scheduled for Nov. 24.
The evidentiary hearing will be rescheduled for the week of Dec. 14-18 from its original Nov. 12 date. The evidentiary hearing will identify all victims, determine the amount of the loss and determine what restitution is due to victims.
U.S. Attorney A. Brian Albritton filed a motion Tuesday to continue the hearings to give First Bank, formerly Coast Bank, more time to obtain and review subpoenaed records, which are essential for the government to make a decision on restitution.
In addition, the government wants to call defendant John Miller as a witness at the evidentiary hearing. Coon conspired with Miller, who owned a mortgage company in Tampa called American Mortgage Link, on the scheme that skimmed proceeds from an extra point charged on mortgages issued by Coast Bank.
According to the motion, Miller will not be available to testify on Nov. 12 because he is out of the country on business.
James Felman, attorney for Coon, said he had no opposition to rescheduling the hearings.
It is unlikely, the sentencing hearing will be held between Jan. 4-8 as the court has been notified several Coast Bank borrowers will be unavailable to testify.
“We’re not trying to do anything to delay the proceeding but it does appear the government is going to need more time in order for all to understand whether anyone is entitled to restitution and if so how much,” Felman said.
The court ruled in December that the Coast Bank borrowers were the victims in the case. Federal prosecutors had said the former bank was the sole victim of the crime because Coon denied the institution of honest services.
Alan Tannenbaum, an attorney who represents more than 100 borrowers, won an appeal ruling for his clients to be identified as victims.
The evidentiary hearing in December, however, will have to identify all the victims, the amount of their loss and determine what restitution is due to all victims in order for Coon to be sentenced.
“It will be our view of the facts as I understand them that the borrowers didn’t pay closing costs, therefore they’re not entitled to restitution,” Felman said. “I think I’ve investigated the facts of the transactions pretty carefully and I’ve yet to see any evidence that they’ve been paid.”
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