Atlanta woman pleads guilty to stealing ID of Macon homeowners, taking their land
An Atlanta woman who orchestrated “an elaborate deed fraud scheme that victimized multiple property owners in Bibb County” will serve five years in prison, District Attorney Anita Howard’s Office said Thursday afternoon.
Angela Spradley pleaded guilty and was sentenced to prison late last month. She’ll serve five years plus 25 years on probation, Howard’s office said. Spradley was indicted in February on 32 felony counts, including stealing the identity of landowners of five properties in Macon, forging their signatures in official government documents and attempting to evade taxes.
As part of her sentence, Spradley is banned from the Macon Judicial Circuit — which covers Bibb, Peach and Crawford counties — and has submitted notarized affidavits that relinquish all claims to the affected properties, according to the district attorney’s office.
How she did it
Prosecutors said that the scheme was discovered in November 2022 when one victim found her second home stripped of fixtures and equipped with a realtor’s lockbox. They then discovered four additional victims who were unaware their properties were transferred.
“When our team recognized the possibility of additional victims, they took the initiative to conduct a comprehensive property records search,” said Howard. “This dedication led to the discovery of four more victims who might never have known they were targeted by this scheme.”
Between September and December 2021, Spradley claimed she owned five properties in and near Vinson Village, then would sign over the land ownership and gift the properties to herself. Two of those lots had houses while the other three were empty.
Two lots were worth over $5,000 and three others were worth over $1,500, according to the indictment.
When it was officially under her name, she then sold three of the properties for $7,500 to an unsuspecting buyer, the district attorney’s office said.
Georgia law now requires identification verification for all deed filings as of Jan. 1, 2025, the district attorney’s office said.
Howard’s office encourages property owners to regularly verify their property records through the Bibb County Superior Court Clerk’s website and to report any suspicious activity.
