An attorney from Maryland was recently sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a long-running fraud scheme that targeted distressed homeowners throughout Connecticut.

Bradford Barneys, 51, was a licensed attorney with an office in Bridgeport.

Timothy W. Burke, formerly of Easton, engaged in a scheme to defraud individuals, mortgage lenders and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by falsely representing to homeowners who were in, or facing, foreclosure on their homes that he would purchase their homes and pay off their mortgages. After he gained control of these houses, Burke rented out the properties to tenants by advertising the properties on craigslist.com and other means and falsely representing to tenants that Burke owned the property.

Burke or one of his agents then collected rent from tenants, and Burke used the funds for his own benefit. He also failed to negotiate with the homeowners’ mortgage lender or pay expenses associated with the home, including the homeowner’s mortgages and property taxes, and he failed to pay any rental income he was collecting to the homeowners. Many of the properties Burke purportedly purchased were ultimately foreclosed upon by the mortgage lender.

Barneys participated in dozens of meetings with Burke and with homeowners at Barneys’ law offices in Bridgeport. At the meetings, Burke represented to homeowners that he would purchase their properties and presented to the homeowners quitclaim deeds, management agreements, indemnification agreements and third-party authorizations.

Barneys was paid more than $72,000 in fees and other monies for his participation in the fraud.

The investigation further revealed that Barneys engaged in separate fraud scheme similar to the scheme that Burke engineered. Barneys assisted two Maryland residents in purchasing a commercial property located on Boston Avenue in Bridgeport. Barneys then acted as a purported landlord for the property, executed long-term lease agreements with at least two tenants, and collected tens of thousands of dollars of rent without the actual owners’ knowledge or authorization and kept the funds for his own use.

Barneys pleaded guilty on Feb. 21 to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire a fraud.

Barneys’ law license was temporarily suspended by state authorities after he pleaded guilty, with additional proceedings scheduled to determine whether further discipline is warranted. A judge ordered Barneys not to apply for reinstatement of his law license, and not to engage in any business related to real estate, while he is on supervised release.

Burke pleaded guilty on Jan. 24 to one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion. He was sentenced to 108 months in prison on April 28.