Lonnie White and Lisa Ogletree, a husband and wife from Willoughby Hills, have been sentenced for collecting more than $2 million in insurance money by conspiring to set houses on fire. Related Articles Deaf LA teenager says immigration officers assaulted him for not heeding commands Man pleads guilty to role in jewelry theft ring that included Great Lakes Mall Modernization plans in store for Willoughby Hills Police Department Apartment fire in Mentor forces displacement of residents Mother charged after 2 young girls found outside Mentor hotel in extreme winter conditions According to a Feb. 2 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio, White, 48, was sentenced to four years and four months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi after pleading guilty in August to the following charges: Conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud; conspiracy to commit money laundering offenses; and conspiracy to use fire in commission of a felony. White was additionally sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $2,375,861 in restitution. Lioi imposed the sentence Jan. 23. Ogletree, 48, was sentenced to five years of probation and 810 days of location-monitored home confinement after she pleaded guilty last August to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Lioi imposed the sentence Jan. 28. According to the indictment, White and Ogletree — personally or through others — bought houses on the east side of Cleveland, transferred the properties to nominal owners with fake renters, insured the property for hundreds of thousands of dollars, arranged to set the house on fire and submitted fraudulent insurance claims on the destroyed property. White arranged to set these houses on fire to make them appear as if the fires were accidental. After receiving the insurance payments for the fire damage, nominal owners distributed the funds to the couple, who then transferred the money to other bank accounts for their own benefit and to further their scheme. According to court filings, the scheme involved at least six fires and more than $2.3 million in fraudulent claims from 2013 to 2019. “It’s traumatic for people to see a house in their neighborhood go up in flames and these defendants shamelessly utilized devastating fires just to line their pockets with money,” said U.S. Attorney David M. Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio. “Additionally, insurance companies paid out millions in claims — in good faith — only to learn they were deceived by these fraudsters. We commend the outstanding efforts of the ATF agents on the case and their regional partners who spent countless hours connecting the dots, which eventually led to justice being served.” ...read more read less